The 25th Gulf Cup, hosted in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, commenced on Friday with an impressive opening ceremony attended by local and regional officials as well as FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The Iranian football federation announced on Saturday that they will be handing a protest statement to FIFA over the naming of the tournament, saying “the Persian Gulf is a noble and historical name, which has been applied in all languages and various atlases, including ancient and historical maps.”
The subject was discussed during a session of the Iranian parliament on Sunday.
“I want those who use the fake name Arab Gulf in Arab countries to study history. The Persian Gulf is, has always been, and will always be Persian,” MP Alireza Salimi was cited by Iranian state media as saying.
Similar thoughts were echoed by MPs Valiullah Bayati, Moinuddin Saeedi, and Ahmad Naderi, accusing the Arabic countries of trying to “falsify history.”
Bayati called on Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to apologize for referring to the Gulf as Arabian in their remarks about the tournament, claiming that the Iraqi people were “definitely not satisfied with these statements.”
Sudani welcomed the attendees during the opening ceremony of the tournament, saying the event represented the unity of the “Arab and Gulf brothers.”
Sadr and many other Iraqi figures have referred to the tournament as the Arabian Gulf Cup in their tweets and statements in the days leading up to the event’s launch.
The Gulf Cup tournament has historically been called the Arabian Gulf Cup since its inception in 1970. Iran has never participated in the competition.
Despite Iran’s intentions to file a complaint to FIFA, the Gulf Cup is not officially recognized by the international football association.
