STONEY BROOK, N.Y. (AP) — Iran qualifies. world cupArad Ershad had the following vision: Splurge on flights and tickets He will be attending the team’s next first-round game in Los Angeles.
That changed when Ershad, a New York graduate student who grew up in Tehran, saw that many of the players he had admired since childhood had no voice due to the policies of the theocratic leader. deadly crackdown About the January protesters.
“I feel so bad and I don’t want them to succeed. They were like my icons, my legends,” he lamented during a recent pickup soccer game on Long Island. “We know that playing in the World Cup is the biggest thing a footballer can achieve in his life, but how can we remain silent?”
Ershad is one of many passionate soccer fans in the Iranian diaspora with mixed emotions as Team Melli, the Persian nickname for the Iranian national team, prepares for its seventh World Cup. Iran is scheduled to launch an operation against New Zealand on June 15 near its home base of Los Angeles. largest community in iran Those outside Iran included many who had fled the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Some believe that the men’s team is complicit in the Iranian government’s oppression and that the competition is unbearable to watch. Others are planning to participate iran match It’s a show of love for the country and the sport, but there are also signs of protest. Still others say they can put politics aside and just enjoy watching Iran compete on soccer’s biggest stage.
All of this is predicated on the team actually participating, Iranian officials said. questioned Because of the country War between America and Israel. Iranian soccer officials met recently The head of international soccer governing body FIFA has insisted that Iran stick to its schedule.
Iranian teams often cannot avoid political issues. Before the recent match in Türkiye, The players were carrying small backpacks. Memorial to Iranian children killed in terrorist attacks Missile attack on elementary school by US military Iranian-American fans said the action showed loyalty to the government and the political pressure it was putting on them.
Iranian athletes face serious consequences for speaking out. In 2022, notable former members of the national team arrested on suspicion of protesting Goes against the country’s leadership. This year, star striker Sardar Azmoun was reportedly not selected for the World Cup warm-up matches due to a social media post that read: angered the authorities.
Concerns that Iran may not participate
Nader Adely, who coaches the over-60s team at Arya FC, an Iranian-American club team in Los Angeles, worries that the war will keep Iran out of the World Cup.
Last month, US President Donald Trump disappointed The Iranian team did not participate due to safety concerns. In response, Iran requested that the match venue be moved to Mexico, which is co-hosting the tournament along with the United States and Canada. fifa top has repeatedly rejected such a move.
Adeli, who did not win a ticket lottery to attend one of Iran’s two games in the Los Angeles area, said the World Cup should be a moment to enjoy sports without outside distractions.
However, with the war escalating, he doesn’t think the team will ever make the expedition. And even if that happens, it is questionable whether the athletes will be able to fully concentrate on the competition.
“Sports should never become a political issue,” he said. “As human beings, we have nothing against Americans, we have nothing against Iranians, it’s only the government.”
Former women’s national team player says Iran should not play
iran women’s team made headlines last month Before the opening match of the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, several members did not sing the national anthem.
They sang the song before Iran’s next two games, but some commentators saw their initial silence as a protest against their government, while others saw it as an expression of mourning for the war. Teams and players — 2 of them accepted a refugee application Stay in Australia — did not comment on this story.
Shiva Amini, who once played for the national team but now lives in New York City, is among the Iranian expatriates who are asking the Trump administration not to grant visas to the men’s team to play in the World Cup.
The 36-year-old, who left Iran in 2017 after being photographed without a headscarf while in Europe, said many Iranians were unhappy with the men’s national team during the 2022 World Cup. In Iran, street demonstrations over a mandatory headscarf law caused chaos and athletes remained silent. Death of Mahsa Amini.
“They had a big platform and instead of talking about it, they were laughing and so happy. It was honestly like a slap in the face,” she said. “So they are not the Iranian national football team. They are the regime’s national football team.”
Amini acknowledged that the few players who spoke out were paid dearly, including Amir Nasr Azadani, who faces years in prison for his involvement in the 2022 protests.
Azmoun, a star Dubai-based striker who played for Iran in the past two World Cups, was reportedly not selected for the warm-up matches for this year’s tournament after he posted a photo on social media of himself greeting political leaders in the United Arab Emirates.
Plans to support and protest Iran
Masoud Ahmadi, 62, an interior designer who plays for Sina FC, another club team with mostly Iranian Americans over 60, said he is trying to get tickets to see Iran play. If he did so, he said, he would raise the lion-and-sun flag of a country that predates the Islamic Revolution against the Iranian leadership.
Ahmadi said he was detained in Iran as a teenager and then fled on foot to Türkiye. The United States granted him political asylum.
“We are definitely going to speak out,” Ahmadi said. Ahmadi is proud of Iran’s heritage but is critical of the men’s national team. “This team is not a team of Iranian people. It is a team of the government.”
Team manager Sasan Sadri said if he qualified, he would try out the uniform to call for a change in Iran’s leadership.
“As a compatriot, I want them to achieve,” he said. “I don’t support the government, but soccer is soccer.”
As for Ershad, a graduate student in New York, he intends to support the Iranian team if the government is overthrown before the tournament begins. If not, he will support soccer great Cristiano Ronaldo’s team to win it all.
“It’s very hard not to support the national team, but let’s go to Portugal,” he said.
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Taxin reported from Irvine, California.
