At continental tournament
Iranian soccer team defies order during anthem
Updated March 3, 2026 – 11:03 amReading time: 1 min.
At the first game of the Asian Cup, Iran’s women’s national football team is silent during its own national anthem. The fans in the stands are surprised.
At the start of the Asian Cup in Australia, the Iran women’s national team lost 3-0 against South Korea on Monday evening. But due to the conflict in the Middle East, sports had already taken a back seat before the game began.
What had happened? When the country’s national anthem was played, all the players and coaching staff decided not to sing along. As sports journalist Tracey Holmes told X, they were defying official instructions. Before they left, the regime ordered them to sing the anthem so as not to embarrass the regime.
The protest was also supported by the fans in the stands. There were a variety of Iranian flags from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution on display. Compared to the current variant, a golden lion and a sun emblem can be seen.
According to the AFP news agency, coach Marziyeh Jafari and the players did not comment on the rocket attacks, the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the general situation on site.
While the women’s national team takes on Australia on Thursday and meets the Philippines at the end of the group stage on Sunday, football in the country is on hold. Due to 40 days of national mourning in honor of Khamenei, all games in the domestic league and the men’s national team’s planned World Cup preparation games are canceled.
