Selection of Iran under political observation

Political pressure on soccer. The Iran national team that will face England, Wales and the United States in the World Cup in Qatar is under criticism from its government, which has not looked kindly on some players supporting the Iranian women’s movement.

Coach Carlos Queiroz He has faced a delay in confirming those summoned, even the press conference on Sunday was cancelled. Some Iranian media point out that this is the result of pressure from the Iranian soccer federation on Queiroz to fire striker Sardar Azmoun and several of the players who made public comments against the government. A wave of nationwide protests is underway in Tehran over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, who was beaten to death in police custody last September, after her arrest for violating mandatory veiling rules. .

Queiroz had a pretty good idea of ​​what he was signing up for in September when he agreed to return to his previous role as coach of the Iran national team, three years after the end of his initial eight-year term in charge, on a three-month, €50,000 contract. of work that culminated in the World Cup.

Embedded in a politically sensitive group in Qatar along with the United States, England and Wales (Iran’s relations with the United States and the United Kingdom have been hostile since the 1979 Islamic Revolution), Queiroz would have to be both a football coach and a diplomat to ensure that Iran’s World Cup campaign went The best way possible.

Iran It is also under the monitoring of the world for alleged alliances with the regime of Vladimir PutinSyria, North Korea and for not wanting to negotiate an agreement not to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iran’s players are a face to the world and could be used by the regime to divert attention from the crisis at home.

“Shame on killing our people so easily and long live the women of Iran,” team striker Sardar Azmoun wrote on his Instagram. Several of his colleagues seconded the criticism of the regime.

So far, the Iranian team has not talked about a boycott, since the sanctions inside their country can be fearsome. National prestige and a great deal of money are at stake.

Gianni Infantino, president of the FIFA asked the 32 countries competing in Qatar that they “concentrate on soccer” and leave “politics” out.

“We know that soccer does not live in a vacuum, but please do not allow soccer to be drawn into every ideological or political battle that exists. In the FIFA we try to respect all opinions and beliefs, without giving moral lessons to the rest of the world.”

Infantino did not address calls for Iran to be expelled from the world Cup. And he also ignored FIFA’s own quintessential political action in February, when it excluded Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Other precedents include the apartheid-era ostracism of South Africa and the ban of the Yugoslavia/Serbia team from international tournaments in 1992.

In the event that Queiroz does not call up the rebel players on Monday, this being the deadline for the calls to be announced, the Iranian federation could be committing an illegal interference in the coach’s work. That’s because FIFA prohibits a country’s government from interfering in the soccer federation.

deportes@eleconomista.mx

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