Pressure on the nation’s soccer team to speak out in favour of anti-government protests
But their ability to unify the country has also been used by the government for propaganda purposes.
“I want to watch the match to see whether the team will do anything on the pitch and if they’ll try to make up for those photos,” Panthea said.Other top Iranian footballers and athletes have supported protests over Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody in Tehran in September after allegedly violating Islamic dress codes.
At other sporting events, Iranian teams have also taken a stand. The men’s water polo team refused to sing during the Islamic Republic’s anthem at an event on November 8th. Iranian sportswomen have competed unveiled at international tournaments, for the first time in decades, drawing the ire of authorities.
One image, that’s been liked more than 55,000 times on Twitter, shows a photo of the England side along with a caption in Persian saying, “The hopes of all Iranians are with you lion cubs of Great Britain on Monday, may God protect you.”
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