Great pressure on “Team Melli”
When the Iran national team qualified for the 2022 World Cup at the end of January, the nation celebrated participation like winning a title. The anticipation of meeting top teams and international stars was huge. But then everything turned out differently. The death of Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered the most severe protests, and the security apparatus reacted with extreme severity. The horror at the many killed demonstrators was great. And with supplies of arms to Russia for the war in Ukraine, the pressure is growing domestically and internationally.
The Iranian footballers of “Team Melli” are also getting more and more caught between the fronts. While associations called for Iran to be excluded from the World Cup, activists hoped for expressions of solidarity from the players, who are likely to be more closely watched on the world stage than almost any other team. The political leadership in Tehran, which finds itself in one of the most serious crises in recent times, wants to prevent this at all costs. Appropriately, photos with President Ebrahim Raisi were published before departure.
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Criticism followed promptly. “This was the best opportunity to make the voices of the grieving and oppressed people of Iran heard by those in charge,” wrote Yahya Golmohammadi, coach of capital city club Persepolis FC, on Instagram. Other ex-professionals also showed solidarity with the protests. Former Bundesliga professional Ali Daei, for example, says he declined an invitation from FIFA to Qatar. Ali Karimi has been severely critical of the Islamic Republic since the protests broke out. He also declined an invitation. And Mehdi Mahdavikia resigned from his job as youth national team coach.
The World Cup in the Persian Gulf should not only be a sporting but also an economic highlight for Iran. Tehran and Doha had agreed on a lucrative cooperation: football fans should be able to visit the islands in southern Iran by plane and ferries. Tehran, hit hard by international sanctions, was hoping for fresh foreign currency. The mood in the capital could hardly be more different. Many Iranians regard participation in the World Cup as indifferent, many even want a disqualification to give the government a lesson.
At the end of September, Sardar Azmoun (27) from Bayer 04 Leverkusen showed solidarity with the women in Iran and wrote on Instagram: “I can no longer stand silence.” There were then rumors that the regime wanted to prevent a nomination. Feyenoord Rotterdam striker Alireza Jahanbakhsh, 29, said at a press conference in Doha the team now wants to focus on the games, not politics.
FC Porto’s top striker Mehdi Taremi agreed with Jahanbakhsh: “We also have other responsibilities towards Iranian society, but here our focus is on football. I’ve already given my opinion on the protests, but this is about football and making the fans happy.” Like Azmoun, the 30-year-old had voiced his support for the protests some time ago.
High expectations of the World Cup: Iran’s national coach Queiroz irritated
But how could Iran’s World Cup appearance not be seen in a political context when the team is playing in a group against the regime’s nemesis, USA? The players themselves should have been put under massive pressure. Iran’s sports association also has high expectations of the team in terms of play. National coach Carlos Queiroz also felt the pressure. Visibly annoyed at a press conference, the Portuguese reacted to questions about his role as head coach for the Islamic Republic team. The 69-year-old was Iran’s national coach from 2011 to 2019 and surprisingly took over from Croatian Dragan Skocic before the protests broke out.
Athletes are held in extremely high regard in Iran. Millions of followers on social networks make footballers opinion leaders. Her influence on the young generation is huge. The political leadership is aware of the importance of athletes within Iranian society – and uses every means possible to suppress critical voices. This was felt by the climber Elnas Rekabi, who took off her headscarf in a competition. Celebrated like a national heroine, she apologized a short time later – apparently after massive intimidation. Critics complain that it is not the team’s sporting performance that is decisive, but more the loyalty to the system.
For fear of protests in the stadiums, the Iranian Football Association recently decided to hold games in front of empty ranks until the World Cup. Bored fans and listless players were the result. The Esteghlal FC team also received their trophy without emotion after winning the Iranian Supercup. For this they received praise and applause across the country – even from the fans of arch-rival Persepolis.
The political leadership in Tehran now fears a similar scenario in front of an audience of millions at the World Cup. The encounter with the USA in particular is eagerly awaited. The players should be aware of the meaning – and also the consequences if they position themselves with protest actions. Just not singing the national anthem should be enough, said a sports journalist in Tehran. “That would be worse for the regime than a thousand American bombs.”
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