Iran players choose not to sing national anthem at World Cup

Julian Bechocha

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s national football team chose not to sing their country’s national anthem during their opening match against England at the World Cup in apparent support of the nationwide antigovernment demonstrations back home. 

The team’s captain, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, previously said that the team will collectively decide whether or not to sing the national anthem in a show of solidarity with protestors challenging the regime in Iran, according to AFP. 

The team’s starting 11 players stood silent as their national anthem played at the Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar’s capital of Doha. 

 

Iran has been rocked by two months of anti-regime protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, in the custody of the so-called morality police on September 16. 

According to the latest tally provided by US-Based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the number of protestors killed across the country as of Monday morning stood at 419.

Tehran has been heavily criticized for its violent crackdown on the demonstrations, with chants of “Death to Khamenei,” referring to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, echoing through the country’s cities calling for the overthrowing of the regime.