Iranian Soccer Captain Speaks Out in Support of Anti-Government Protests at World Cup

Brittany Bernstein
·2 min read
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The captain of Iran’s national men’s soccer team spoke in support of anti-government protests in Iran during the World Cup in Qatar this week.

Ehsan Hajsafi became the first member of the team to speak about the protests, which began more than two months ago when a 22-year-old woman died in the custody of the country’s “morality police.”

“I would like to express my condolences to all bereaved families in Iran,” Hajsafi said at a news conference. “They should know that we are with them. And we support them. And we sympathize with them regarding the conditions.”

“We have to accept the conditions in our country are not right and our people are not happy,” he added. “We are here but it does not mean we should not be their voice or we should not respect them.”

After Hajsafi’s comments, the Iranian team refused to sing the country’s national anthem at the World Cup on Monday.

The protests began on September 17 at the funeral of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s “morality police” for allegedly wearing her hijab too loosely on September 13. She died three days later.

While Iranian officials have said Amini died of a heart attack, her family says she was “severely beaten” while in custody. A lawyer for the family said “respectable doctors” believe she was beaten while in custody. Her death has sparked weeks of protests across Iran, in which some women have burned their hijabs and publicly chopped off their hair.

Iranian authorities have dismissed the protests as a plot by their adversaries and have accused dissidents of violence that has left at least 20 members of the security forces dead, Reuters reported last month.

At least 410 protesters have been killed in the unrest, including 58 minors, according to the activist news agency HRANA.

Some Iranian activists have criticized the national team for not speaking out enough. A banner of the team was set on fire in Tehran, according to CNN. Billboards for the team have been burned across the country as well.

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