FOOTBALL With the exception of Sardar Azmoun, Team Melli provides very limited support for the feminist revolt in Iran. The pressure imposed by the regime has a lot to do with it
Sardar Azmoun is the only Iranian player to have extended his support for the feminist cause in Iran over time — SOPA Images/SIPA
From our envoyé special to Doha,
When he took over as head of the Iranian national team at the very beginning of September, Carlos Queiroz did not necessarily expect have an easy life in Qatar. You’d have to be crazy to be overconfident by embarking on a 2022 World Cup mission to London. two months from the due date. The height of misfortune for the Portuguese, his signing preceded of a week the death of Mahsa Amini, whose arrest for “wearing inappropriate clothing” by the morality police will have marked the starting point of the Iranian revolt against the regime.
At least 378 people have been killed in the repression of the demonstrations engaged for two months, according to a last report diffused Saturday by the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) based in Oslo. Death sentences have also been imposed. pronounced against arrested demonstrators. It’s therefore a bereaved people; that Team Melli is preparing to represent in Qatar. “I would like to extend my condolences to Mr. my people, declared; striker Mehdi Taremi, a few days before the game against England. Iran is going through difficult times and I want to send my condolences to Iran. those who lose loved ones.”
Sardar Azmoun alone in the fight
Messages of support from Iranian internationals have the merit of existing. Those to denounce the regime, a little less. Only Bayer Leverkusen star Sardar Azmoun dared to challenge the power on the networks shortly after the death of Mahsa Amini. “It cannot be erased;” of our consciousness. Shame on; you. They left a pain in the heart of the nation that history will never forget,” he wrote. A daring position that earned him the temporary closure of his Instagram account as a warning. Undaunted, Azmoun continues to support the Iranian people. “It’s the only one,” laments Reza Mohaddes, journalist for Iran International.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is not easy to to express their political opinions. Mohaddes knows something about it: the team of FIFA-accredited journalists he was part of had their visas for Qatar canceled at the end of the day. one week from the start of the 2022 World Cup. “This decision comes as the Iranian government has been working to with Doha to “avoid possible problems” during the tournament, ” said the media.
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“Many people have been disappointed to see them laughing while people are dying, says the journalist. People are disappointed with Iran’s national team but still hope for action from them on Monday to prove that they stand by the Iranian national team. of the people.”
Before the friendly match of September 27 which opposed them to Senegal, the Iranians had put on a black parka to hide their jersey during hymns. On October 10, only Vahid Amiri and Mehdi Torabi had sung; the national anthem before the game against Nicaragua. The question of celebrating goals and the national anthem is not yet resolved in a cracked dressing room. by political differences.
On Wednesday, Captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh assured that “ discussions ” were going on internally and that the decision to sing or not would be made “collectively”. At the dawn of its entry into the matter against the English, the Melli team finds itself face to face. a dilemma: to be wisely satisfied with its condition as an instrument of propaganda or to support the popular insurrection.