Football – protests at Iran’s international match in Vienna

People protest against the Iranian regime at an Iran soccer match in Vienna.

People protest against the Iranian regime at an Iran soccer match in Vienna. (Oliver Soos/ARD Vienna)

The Motion Invest Arena in the Vienna suburb of Maria Enzersdorf. About 50 Iranians have gathered in front of the small stadium with speakers. They wear T-shirts and hold posters with the picture of the killed Mahsa Amini in their hands. They chant in Persian and German: “Mullahs are terrorists, mullahs are fascists. Murder, terror, execution, Islamic government.”

Many attempts – but no ticket

The demonstrators actually wanted to go to the stadium for the Iran-Senegal game, say Hamed Ibrahimi and Shadi Khaghani. Both fled Iran 13 years ago as part of the green movement and now live in Vienna they say they didn’t get tickets.

“We tried a lot, emails, calls – but we didn’t get an answer,” says Ibrahimi. Khaghani says: “Only 100 tickets were sent to the ambassador and ordinary Iranians are not allowed to go in because of course we will demonstrate.” But at least they can be heard loudly here in front of the stadium to draw attention to Mahsa Amini’s death.

“It’s a 22-year-old young woman on a trip to Tehran. The vice squad killed her,” says Ibrahimi. Khaghani adds: “People are killed almost every year because they don’t wear the headscarf properly. It has now become a symbol because she died a week ago. She was in Tehran for vacation.”

Game in front of almost empty ranks

The game is kicked off in front of almost empty stands, only a few spectators, including a few Senegal fans, were allowed in. The Iranian demonstrators gather in front of the stadium fence and start shouting. “You have no honor” – they call out to the players.

“Look, my hands are shaking. I don’t know how to express my feelings. I can understand that the players are afraid because they also live in Iran and have families there. But there are also many football players who want to resign announced,” says Khaghani.

Some players show courage and guts

But there were also some current players who supported the protests. Vahid Amiri from Persepolis Tehran and Sardar Azmoun from Bayer Leverkusen were critical on Instagram. Azmoun colored his cover photo black. He wrote “I can’t take it any longer”. Being kicked out of the national team is the greatest penalty for him, but it is a small price to pay compared to every strand of Iranian women’s hair, Asmoun said.

“Shame on you, your frivolous kills, Long live Iranian women,” Amiri wrote. That has now been deleted. His Instagram account with almost 5 million followers is blocked. Apparently the pressure on the player was great. The Iranian regime doesn’t need political trouble on the big stage. The World Cup in Qatar starts in less than two months.

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