The goalscorer and legend who refused to go to Qatar as a symbol of protest

Iranian football legend Ali Dai announced this Tuesday that he had turned down an invitation from FIFA to go to the World Cup in Qatar as demonstration of solidarity to families who have lost their loved onesin an apparent show of support for the protests rocking Iran.

“In a few days where most of us are not feeling well, I said no to the invitation from FIFA and the Qatar Football Federation to attend the World Cup with my wife and daughters,” the former striker said on Twitter.

The former Bayern Munich player, who led the Persian team between 2008 and 2009, explained that he had refused the invitation to “be in his country and Express your support to all the families who have lost loved ones.”

I await better days for Iran and the Iranians, concluded the man who was captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006.

Daei held the national team’s top scorer record for years with 109 goals, title that Cristiano Ronaldo took away from him in 2021.

Daei’s message appears to be clear support for the protests that have been rocking Iran since the death of Masha Amini on September 16, after being arrested three days earlier by Moorish police.l for wearing the Islamic veil incorrectly, which are harshly repressed by the security forces.

At least 326 people, including 43 minors, were killed in the police crackdown, according to the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights.

Daei thus becomes the last public figure and above all a footballer to show his support for the protests led above all by young people with the cry of “woman, life, freedom” and in which the veils are burned, one of the symbols of the Islamic Republic and something unthinkable not so long ago.

Earlier this month, soccer player Saeed Piramun celebrated his goal against Brazil in the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup final in the UAE by mimicking a haircut, a gesture of support for the protests.

Furthermore, in the first weeks of the demonstrations, several football players showed their support for the demonstrators, as was the case in Iran-Senegal on 27 September, when Iranian players listened to the anthem wearing black jackets.

Faced with this situation, the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) warned last week that it will punish players who make gestures of a political nature following the Code of Ethics of the Olympic Committee and the rules of the International Football Federation (FIFA).

Although soccer is the most popular sport, the best-known case of an athlete supporting the protests was that of mountaineer Elnaz Rekabi, who competed in Seoul without a headscarf, an action that caused quite a stir.

The athlete then declared that the lack of the veil was due to an oversight, but this did not prevent hundreds of people from receiving it at the Tehran airport shouting “champion”.