Iran-US World Cup clash

Tensions are set to rise between the US and Iran, the two contention countries in the West and in the Middle East, not only in the political realm but now even in sports. There are several disputation controversies between them, but this time they brought sports to politics. The US and Iran have been bitter ideological foes for more than 40 years, cutting diplomatic relations in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Political antagonism further degenerated when the US Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, terming the move in support of protests in Iran ahead of the two nations’ World Cup match on late Tuesday.

In the posts, the Iranian flag icon was missing its Islamic Republic emblem and only showed its red, white and green stripes. The US Soccer Federation said it had changed the flag for 24 hours to show support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights. There have been nationwide protests in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22 years old woman in custody on September 16. She was detained for allegedly not wearing a proper headscarf and since then Iranian people took to the streets, demanding more freedom for women.

However, the Federation said they intended to change the flag back, but it immediately earned reactions.

Iran reacted swiftly on the use of an incorrect flag

Iran has strongly condemned the decision to use an incorrect flag, which it said violated the statutes of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), world football’s global governing body. The Iranian Football Federation also lodged a protest with the (FIFA), demanding sanctions against the United States team. It also called for the US to be disqualified from the World Cup for its action.

A US soccer federation screenshot displaying Iran’s national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic. (AP)

“By posting a distorted image of the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran on its official account, the US football team breached the FIFA charter, for which a 10-game suspension is the appropriate penalty. Team USA should be kicked out of the World Cup 2022,”semi-official state news agency in Iran (Tasnim) tweeted.

Safia Allah Faghanpour, a legal adviser to Iran’s soccer federation also said that respecting a nation’s flag is an accepted international practice that all other nations must emulate.

Fagahanpour also said that measures taken regarding the “Islamic Republic of Iran flag are against the law” of FIFA competitions and the US must be held responsible.

US coach apologizes for depicting a modified version of Iran’s flag

The United States coach Gregg Berhalter apologized for the furor triggered by a social media post depicting a modified version of Iran’s flag and said they were not part of this as they are focusing more on today’s (Tuesday) match.

USA’s coach Gregg Berhalter gives a press conference at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) in Doha (AFP)

The US players and coaching staff had been unaware about social posts regarding the flag change. “We’re not focused on those outside things and all we can do is apologizing on behalf of the players and the staff, but it’s not something that we were a part of,” Berhalter told newsmen.

“We had no idea what US Soccer put out. The staff, the players, we had no idea. For us our focus is on this match and I don’t want to sound aloof, or we’re not caring by saying that.”

To ease tension, the US State Department said it had no involvement in the US Soccer Federation’s decision to remove the “Islamic Republic” emblem from the Iranian flag in its social posts.

“We look forward to a peaceful and competitive match on the field. The United States continues to find ways to support the Iranian people in the face of state-sponsored violence against women and a brutal crackdown against peaceful protestors,” a State Department spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement.

Flag row and crucial football game

The US and Iran are set to meet in a crucial game that already has drawn political undertones. The loser, if there is any, most likely will be eliminated from the tournament. It is in the knockout stages. There were three matches and the last one between Iran-US was in the World Cup in 1998, with the Iranians securing a 2-1 victory. But in the 2022 World Cup, the Iranian side started off their campaign poorly after the 6-2 thrashing by England, only to put on a redeeming, dominant display against Wales, winning 2-0.

Meanwhile, the flag has also become a point of contention among the Iranian football fans as well. The pro-government supporters waved the flag and went on shouting against those demonstrating over Amin’s death. While other Iranian fans waved Iran’s lion and sun flag, an emblem of its former ruler, the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in support of ongoing protests in Iran.

A female Iranian fan was also removed from a match for holding Amin’s T-shirt and some others were arrested by the Qatari police for showing support to the protests in Iran. The arrest was made in the line with the FIFA’s officials fan’s guideline which bans “promoting any political, offensive and/or discriminatory messages.”

Difficult to separate sports from politics

Indeed, fans don’t want politics brought into any sports, especially in football, a favorite sport to millions of people. Every country must refrain from introducing politics into sports because the lovers want sporting prowess to be pure no matter in football or cricket, or basketball, or gymnastics, or etc… It is rational to say that sports are, at a baseline, the ultimate meritocracy. In sports we also have a loser and a winner, but the outcome should never be politicalized.

Throughout history, the sport has generally been viewed as a form of entertainment, separate from serious matters of politics. Sport is often considered as a phenomenon that is not related to politics, and many see sports as a way of escaping politics.

But in this tournament “World Cup 2022” the football has been intrinsically-linked with the political games, where even players and fans are now engaged in political activities on the ground. The Iranian football players did not sing the national anthem and fans are separated between pro-and-anti-protests. This itself is a political move, and an indication that politics is difficult to separate from sports. Today’s match between US and Iran is especially significant for both sides, not only to qualify for the final 16 of the World Cup, but because of the rivalry between Washington and Tehran.

Many people also watched Saudi Arabia and Morocco’s victories over Argentina and Belgium, respectively, as political wins. We must learn to watch sports with no eye toward politics. There is need to remember that politics have appeared in the Olympic Games many times in the past several years, but yet the stated goal of the Olympic Movement was to keep sports and politics separate.  This is what FIFA also needs to do, and the fans must also learn ethics in sports.