Doha, Qatar – 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 was preparing to face Iran in the decisive World Cup match against Iran.
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 fundamental 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 tinged only with the colors green, white and red. You can also see the group’s total points so far.
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,” said the federation.
Federation spokesman Neil Buse declined to say whether the original decision was endorsed by USSF president Cindy Parlow Cohn, a former national team player. Cohn said he was unable to discuss the matter.
“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 agencies, Butte said: I’m not going to talk about them, but I repeat, this is our decision, not anyone else’s decision or pressure from anyone else. “
The USSF has displayed the official Iranian flag on its website with a graphic showing the Group B standings.
Defender Walker Zimmerman said the US player was unaware of the post.
“We didn’t know anything about the post, but we are women’s rights advocates.” I think it’s a very focused group, but at the same time we’re empathetic and we firmly believe in and support women’s rights.”
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. explained.
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.
Designed in 1980, the Islamic Republic’s coat of arms consists of four curved lines with a sword between them. This represents the Islamic maxim that “there is no god but God”. Similar to tulips and lotuses.
There are also 22 inscriptions on the top and bottom of the flag, “God is Great,” honoring the date in the Persian calendar on which the Islamic Revolution took root.
The national flag became a point of contention at the World Cup. In other matches, some waved the lion and sun flags of Iran, the former ruler the late Shah Mohammadreza his pahlavi crest.
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.
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AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
