Qatar World Cup: Protests and non-protests loom over England v Iran as FIFA rejects LGBTQ+ armband

There is a possibility of protest and non-protest during the World Cup match between England and Iran this afternoon (05:00 PST).

All eyes will be on Iran’s soccer team during the country’s pre-match anthem as protests rage at home after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was jailed last September.

Soccer player Ehsan Hajsafi became the first member of the Iranian national team yesterday to speak out in support of the anti-government protests at the World Cup soccer tournament in Doha. “They need to know we are with them. And we support them. And we sympathize with them in terms of conditions,” the AEK Athens player said at a press conference.

Iran’s captain, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, has refused to confirm in recent days whether his team will sing the national anthem. “You ask about the national anthem – it must also be decided within the team, which we have already talked about and of course everyone is talking about,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The match follows the arrests of two prominent Iranian actresses, Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, according to several reports citing state media this morning.

The public protests sparked by Amini’s death show no sign of abating as they enter their 10th week. Despite a crackdown by security forces, protests broke out in several cities in Iran over the weekend.

Wristbands & Knees

Meanwhile, England, Wales and seven other European countries have agreed to wear the OneLove armband to show their support for diversity and inclusion in a country that criminalises same-sex relationships, but FIFA has now said players must wear a yellow Must-Wear card if they are seen wearing bracelets. The nine countries gave in to pressure this morning and withdrew their mini-protest.

“We are extremely frustrated by FIFA’s decision, which we believe is unprecedented,” said a joint statement from seven football associations, including England’s FA. The FA added in their personal statement that they felt “betrayed” by FIFA. FIFA’s decision made headlines worldwide this morning, while national authorities’ crackdown sparked frustration among many on social media.

The group said they wrote to FIFA two months ago to let them know about the armband and the governing body did not respond, so England captain Harry Kane and Wales’ Gareth Bale prepared to wear the armbands.

Nations had previously thought that they would only be fined if they wore the armbands and had indicated that they would be happy to accept such a fine.

In response, FIFA said they had instead brought forward the No Discrimination campaign, which was due to start from the quarter-finals, and that captains could now wear a No Discrimination armband for the duration of the tournament.

England manager Gareth Southgate also said his players would take a knee before kick-off to show faith in the Black Lives Matter movement – something the team has worked with England’s Premier League teams for the past two years.

“We think it’s a powerful statement to go out into the world to show young people in particular that inclusion is very important,” Southgate said. “We discussed taking the knee and feeling like we should.”

So far there is no indication that the England team will be punished for the knee injury.