The controversies do not stop in the World Cup in Qatar and it seems that they have become the daily bread. This time it was the turn of the Football Federation of Iran, which last Sunday requested a 10-match suspension for the United States team for offending the dignity of their country by displaying the Iranian flag without the logo of the Islamic Republic.
As reported by the Tasnim News Agency through its Twitter account, the legal advisor of the Iranian Football Federation will present a complaint to the FIFA Ethics Committee against the US team. The news agency also published article 13 of the FIFA rules where it is stated that "any person who offends the identity or integrity of a country, a person or a group of people, through discriminatory actions or words [...], must be penalized with a suspension of at least 10 games".
The United States, for its part, defended itself by claiming that the gesture of removing the symbol from the flag was a show of support for the protests in Iran in favor of women's rights. Hours later, the United States team deleted the publication and returned to showing the original flag of the Islamic Republic.
But this is not an isolated event, since the country's protests have moved to the World Cup competition. On November 21, the players of the Iranian team did not sing the anthem in the match that faced England as a show of support for the protests of their country, and in the following match against Wales they timidly did so. In addition, in various parties it has been possible to see protest actions by the public where posters with the slogan "Women. Life. Freedom" have been displayed.
Iran and the United States will meet next Tuesday in matchday three of the group stage. Framed in group B, the Iranian team occupies the second position with three points, while the Americans are third with two points.
