Historically, the Iran national football team was seen as representing the people, not the government of the Islamic Republic. “Team Melli,” as the team is known, has been embraced as an apolitical force and as an age-old passion which reflects a certain ideal, the Iran imagined by everyone.
For years, the team has brought unity and joy to a troubled nation. The support for the team was indeed unconditional. Until now.
As the World Cup approaches in Qatar, the first time the world’s biggest sporting event has been held in the Middle East, the Iranian team is in an unfamiliar and polarized position.
Team Melli has found itself embroiled in Iran’s domestic politics, where an ongoing national uprising led by women and youth is calling for an end to clerical rule and seeks fairer treatment and greater personal freedoms.
The protests were fueled by the death in police custody in mid-September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a young woman who had been arrested by the “morality police” in Tehran, the Iranian capital, accused of violating a law requiring women to cover their heads.
Request to FIFA
Some activists inside and outside Iran have called on FIFA, football’s governing body, to ban Iran from participating in this World Cup.
Citation the government crackdown on protesters, which left more than 250 dead, but also long-standing grievances about football, such as restricted access to stadiums for women, and more overtly political reproaches, such as Iran supplying Russia with armed drones to aid its invasion of Russia. . Ukraine.
A ban seems highly unlikely: FIFA has sent a letter to all World Cup teams and their associations urging them to focus on football rather than politics. But support for Team Melli is now divided even at home, say analysts, fans, journalists and former coaches and players.
The split was clear in the hurt voice of Jalal Talebi, 80, who coached his native Iran at the 1998 World Cup in France, where he led the team to the biggest win in its history, against the United States.
Iran is now back in the same first round group as the United States in Qatar. In an interview, Talebi called football a “part of life”, but said he supported the protests and believed “this is not the time” to participate in the Cup.
“How will I feel watching football when my neighbour, my brother, my countryman and my compatriot are in such a bad situation?” said the former coach.
waste
Mohammad Motamedi, 44, the popular Iranian vocalist, was chosen to be Team Melli’s official singer for this World Cup, but he declined, writing on his Instagram page: “Under the circumstances, I don’t even feel like talking. much less sing.
Keyvan, 47, a lawyer from Tehran, who asked to use only his name, canceled tickets, flights and hotel accommodation for Iran’s group stage matches in Qatar due to protests and the violent crackdown on the government.
But other fans said they fully support the Iranian team’s participation. This was said by Ali Gholizadeh, 37, a researcher from Mashhad football is one of the joys left to people who feel oppressed by repression and international economic sanctions.
“Taking away the World Cup from us,” Gholizadeh said, would be “collective punishment.” National team players also appear divided over whether and how forcefully to show their support for the protesters.
According to a report on Twitter and Telegram by an independent journalist in Iran, the two squad forwards Sardar Azmoun and Mehdi Terami got into a heated argument in September at a training camp in Austria.
Analysts said some fans accused the players of being co-opted by the government, securing their real estate deals and imported luxury cars.
Others accused the players of appearing numb to the Austrian withdrawal in the days following Amini’s death, celebrating too much after an exhibition win against Uruguay and throwing a party for goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand’s 30th birthday.
“The excitement and joy we always have for football and the World Cup this time is non-existent,” said Amir Ali, a 54-year-old engineer in Tehran, who asked not to use his last name. “We are not interested, and there are those who say that if Team Melli loses, it is a defeat for the regime”.
By J. Longman and F. Fassihi, The New York Times
Source: Clarin
