The U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed the Iranian flag without the Islamic Republic emblem on social media, saying the move was in support of Iranian protesters. World Cup game on Tuesday.
The Iranian government has accused the United States of removing God’s name from its national flag.
The USSF’s decision added yet another political uproar to the first World Cup in the Middle East.
It happened as the United States prepared to face Iran in the decisive World Cup match on Tuesday. nationwide protest Challenge Tehran’s theocratic government.
In a statement Sunday morning, the USSF said it had decided to withhold official flags on its social media accounts to show “support for Iranian women fighting for their basic human rights.”
The US men’s team’s Twitter account displayed a banner of the team’s match in the group stage, with the Iranian flag bearing only the colors green, white and red. rice field Facebook When Instagram account Place the total points so far in that group.
By Sunday afternoon, the normal flag with the emblem had been restored to the Twitter banner, and Facebook and Instagram posts using the altered flag had been removed.
“We wanted to show our support for Iranian women with a 24-hour graphic,” the federation said.
Federation spokesman Neil Buses declined to say whether the original decision was endorsed by USSF President Cindy Parlow Cohn, a former national team player.
“This was a decision within the federation,” he said. “I’m not going to say who knew and who didn’t.”
Asked if there had been any talks with diplomatic bodies, Bouthe said, “There was at some point. I’m not going to talk about it, but again, this is our decision, not anyone else’s.” It’s not a decision, it’s not pressure from anyone else.”
USSF Raised the official flag of Iran A graphic showing the Group B standings on the website.
After the death on September 16 of 22-year-old Masa Amini, who was detained by Iran’s moral police, the coat of arms was temporarily removed as months of demonstrations challenged the Iranian government.
At least 450 people have been killed and more than 18,000 arrested since the protests began, according to Iranian Human Rights Activists, a post-demonstration advocacy group.
Iran has not released casualty or arrest figures for months and claims it has provided no evidence that the protests were instigated by foreign enemies, including the United States.
Tehran has also restricted access to the media and detained more than 63 journalists and photographers since the demonstrations began, making it more difficult to cover the unrest, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations and its football federation did not respond to the Associated Press’ request for comment.As the comments sparked an outrage online, Iranian state television said the United States had “removed the symbol of Allah” from the Iranian flag. Stated.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency quoted Safiora Fagahanpour, an adviser to the Iranian Football Federation, as saying that the FIFA competition’s “measures taken regarding the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran violate the law”. Stated.
“They have to take responsibility,” said Fagahanpour. “Obviously they want to influence Iran’s performance against the United States by doing this.”
Designed in 1980, the coat of arms of the Islamic Republic consists of four curved lines with a sword between them. It represents the Islamic proverb, “There is no god but God.” Similar to tulips and lotuses.
There are also 22 “God is Great” inscriptions on the top and bottom of the flag, honoring the date in the Persian calendar when the Islamic Revolution took hold.
The national flag became a point of contention at the World Cup. Other matches waved Iran’s lion and sun flags, the crest of the late former ruler Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
More security forces could be seen in the final game against Wales. In the capital Tehran, riot police waving Iranian flags angered demonstrators after the Welsh victory.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-cup-us-iran-emblem-flag-soccer-federation/ US football briefly removes emblem from Iranian flag in World Cup post