"In Iran, it is impossible to separate politics from football."
Ali Houman, 53, came from Canada to attend the "Team Melli" matches at the 2022 World Cup.
Crossed near the Ahmed Bin Ali stadium just before the match between his country and Wales, this engineer keeps in mind the protest movement which has shaken his native country since the end of September, following the death of Mahsa Amini , arrested for having "badly worn" the Islamic veil.
Since this tragic event, the demonstrations, initially confined to the issue of the veil, have turned into a revolt against the regime of the mullahs.
And Ali Houman to symbolize his support for the movement by displaying an Iranian flag cut in the middle, to remove the symbol of the Islamic republic.
Ali Houman and his truncated flag of Iran.
© Romain Houeix, France 24
Coming to Qatar, he expected to have to whistle his own team but their gesture against England surprised him.
His compatriots refused to sing "Sorude Melliye Jomhuriye Eslamiye Iran", the national anthem celebrating the 1979 Islamic revolution.
"I had planned to boo them. This gesture changed my mind. I felt proud for them. They will probably be punished for this but it was a powerful gesture", explains this father family, with a calm tone.
Anthem sung and whistled during the game against Wales
A gesture that the team did not repeat against the Welsh, however, causing some whistles in the Iranian stands.
It must be said that the positions of Iranian players are particularly scrutinized.
The slightest goal celebration, the slightest word and the slightest silence are dissected and criticized.
The team itself seems divided.
Sardar Azmoun, the star striker, has multiplied the speeches in favor of the challenge and captain Ehsan Hajsafi presented his "condolences to the families of the victims".
On the other hand, Mehdi Torabi and Vahid Amiri, two of the replacements, are known for their support for the regime.
In all of this, Portugal's Iran coach Carlos Queiroz is losing patience with the endless debates that veer from football to politics.
He got angry on several occasions against journalists at a press conference who dared to ask him questions on the subject.
"Please, you teachers, moralists, let these boys play football. It's not fair to bring them to this World Cup and ask them things that are not their responsibility" , pleaded the Portuguese technician.
Carlos Queiroz was asked by a BBC journalist about the protests in Iran.
He confronted her and asks why she doesn't ask Gareth Southgate questions about Afghanistan... 😳 pic.twitter.com/u69isA0Wma
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) November 24, 2022
When these words are repeated to him, Ali Houman shakes his head, smiling with a sad air, to mean that the foreign coach has understood nothing of this country which he has been coaching again since September 2022 after a successful first term between 2011 and 2019. "In Iran, football and politics are necessarily linked," he repeats.
And to add, magnanimously: "The players of the team are in a difficult position. Whatever they do, they will be criticized for doing too much or not enough".
A position made even more difficult by the repression of the Iranian authorities against footballers.
On the eve of Wales – Iran, the news of the arrest of Voria Ghafouri, 28 international selections, for propaganda had leaked in the press.
This former captain of the Esteghlal club, one of Iran's two flagship clubs with Persepolis, had to leave his team in July 2022 due to recurring criticism of the regime.
'Players need to do more'
As security checks approach to enter the stadium, Aran Gabdari proudly displays a banner that reads "Women, life, freedom, #MahsaAmini", one of the official slogans of the demonstration.
"This slogan is all we are deprived of in Iran. That's why we want a revolution," said the 31-year-old data analyst.
"Football is for having a good time but it makes no sense when people and children are being killed in Iran."
According to the NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR), based in Norway, the repression of demonstrators since the beginning of the movement has left at least 416 dead, including 51 children.
"Not singing the anthem is not enough. They need to do more," added the young man.
"But we're not here for the players, nor to encourage them or boo them. Whether they score, whether they lose: we don't care. We're here to support the movement."
"Women Life Freedom" has been the slogan of protests in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, shortly after her arrest by the police.
© Romain Houeix, France 24
Living in the United States, the engineer says he does not fear reprisals for his open-faced position.
However, this is far from the case of his compatriots who made the trip from Iran, located barely 265 km across the Persian Gulf, and who support the movement.
None of them wanted to exchange more than a few words with France 24, for fear of never being able to return to the country.
In front of the Ahmed Bin Ali stadium, they demonstrate in their own way, posing with their backs and with modified flags of Iran while wearing T-Shirts representing Mahsa Amini.
Tensions between groups of Iranians
Difficult to prove them wrong when several groups of much more virulent supporters arrive in the perimeter of the stadium.
Very quickly, they took sides with the Iranians answering questions from journalists, surrounding them and preventing them from continuing the interviews by shouting, singing and blowing the foghorn.
The tone rises quickly, the insults fuse, just like the mutual accusations.
The new group accuses the protester of not even being Iranian behind his white, red and green makeup.
He replies that they are "false supporters paid by the regime to avoid talking about the demonstrations at the World Cup".
Flags are torn down and T-shirts torn.
Qatari security is watching carefully without intervening.
When we try to question these new supporters, they indicate that they do not wish to answer, citing a hesitant English.
However, it was not in Farsi that they insulted the supporters of the movement but in a language of Shakespeare perfectly mastered.
They prefer to carefully film the faces of those who dare approach the cameras with their mobile phones.
The only one who agrees to answer our questions in English castigates the presence of the demonstrators: "It's nonsense. No one should demonstrate abroad for an internal problem in Iran", he explains.
"We are here to support our team. We are proud of them, they qualified for the World Cup and we want them to win."
If until now his remarks could have made him pass for a simple supporter of "Team Melli", the song he then sings with his friends leaves no room for doubt about his support for the Iranian regime: "Islamic Republic of Iran", they chant for several minutes.
To be the voices of those who cannot speak
Away from the commotion, an American-Iranian, Nika, lifts her Brazil T-Shirt to reveal a T-Shirt in support of Mahsa Amini.
She prefers to remain cautious because she claims to have received threats on social networks because of her messages during the England – Iran match.
This engineer in California also hides the T-Shirt for fear that the tunic will be confiscated by security.
A mishap that happened to at least one group of supporters, according to an AFP photographer, who wore a flag with the slogan.
Security reserves the right to confiscate any item due to FIFA rules which state that "any item containing words or images with political, offensive and/or discriminatory messages" is prohibited from Cup venues of the world.
Security at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium confiscates a flag from Iranian protesters.
© Giuseppe Cacace, AFP
Nika explains that it was important for her not to leave this World Cup to pro-regime supporters: “Many people gave up coming to support the protest movement. The regime took the opportunity to send its supporters here. We came hoping to be louder and louder than them. And thus spread the message "Woman.
Life.
Freedom", says the young woman, who discovers for the first time the atmosphere of the stadiums. "The World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world.
It can become a formidable political platform.
We are here to be the voice of those who are forced to remain silent in Iran."
Nika and Hossein came from the United States to support the protesters from their country of origin, Iran © Cedric Ferreira, France 24
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