On March 12, 2019, Sahar Jodayari was arrested by the Iranian police when she tried to access the Azadi stadium in Tehran disguised as a man, with the intention of watching the match between Esteghlal and Al Ainby Asian Champions League. A few months later, when the islamic court I was about to sentence her to six months in jail, he immolated himself at the doors of the magistracy and died hours later because of the burns. the «blue girl»thus recognized by the colors of his team, became a symbol of the fight for equality.
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Less than two months from the start of the Qatar World Cup 2022, Iran experiences moments of great popular agitation, with mass protests led by women. demonstrations intensified on September 16, when Mahsa Amini was arrested and tortured for not wearing her hijab correctly. He died hours later. Amnesty International immediately requested a criminal investigation into his death. Both his death and that of Jodayarí have strengthened the fight for gender equality in the country.
On the September FIFA date, the players of the Iranian National Team joined the protests and before the match against Senegal they wore black jackets with the intention of covering the national emblem of their shirts during the intonation of the hymns. Hours before, the Iranian government had carried out a silence order so that the campus does not express itself. But the rebellious attitude prevailed.
After the meeting, sardar azmounone of the Iranian figures, went further in his demonstration and posted on his Instagram account: “The ultimate punishment of being expelled from the national team is just a small price compared to your bravery. Long live Iranian women!”
Only a few weeks passed between the martyrdom of the «girl in blue» and the Iran’s first match that women could attend in more than forty years. In October 2019, 3,500 female fans attended the Qatar 2022 Qualifying match against Cambodia at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. FIFA clearly intervened to lift the unwritten ban that had been put in place shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
March in repudiation of the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested and tortured for not wearing her hijab Getty Images
However, when it was thought that the path to equality had begun to retrace slowly but surely, 2000 women who had purchased their tickets were prevented from entering the Imam Reza stadium in the city of Mashhad in March this year.
That was one more event of the many that caused the climate of social tension that exists today in Iran. For decades, the football it was a key actor in political life of this nation, as became clear in the friendly against Senegal. Far from being just another sport, it is the most popular pastime by a wide margin and a fundamental tool for the organisms of power. in his book How football explains the world, journalist Franklin Foer stated “the story of modern Iran can be told like the story of Iranian football”. Everything that happens around the ball exceeds it. And even more so when it comes to the national team.
The reasons for the phenomenon lie at the very beginning of history. Reza Shah, the first king of the royal Pahlavi dynasty, was the main promoter of the sport in the nation. As soon as he came to power, in 1925, he understood that football could help instill Western values in young Iranians. In his eagerness to modernize the country, he even decided demolish mosques to inaugurate soccer fields in their place. These decisions marked the future of Iran and united football with politics forever.
If Reza Shah was an enthusiastic fan of the game brought by the British to Mesopotamia in the late 19th century, his son and successor Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a true fanatic. The change of monarch occurred in 1941, during World War II. The old head of state was a sympathizer of Nazi Germany and was forced to abdicate by the allies, who had occupied Iranian territory during the war and had the approval of his descendant.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi intensified the development of football throughout the territory. In 1939 his father had opened the Amjadieh Stadium in Tehran, the first football stadium in West Asia, and he dedicated himself to further institutionalizing the sport. Former player Hossein Sadaghiani was his executing arm and the one in charge of directing the national team in their first international matches, played in 1941. On August 23, they beat a team from British India 1-0 and on the 25th they tied without goals against Afghanistan, in the meeting recognized as the official debut. After the war, in 1948, Iran joined FIFA.
The Shah’s relationship with football began in his childhood. He was his favorite game in his youth and even legend has it that he scored two goals in a match against a British team, although there is no official data on this. School records indicate that he was a good player but that he preferred not to run too much so as not to be physically at risk.
The Sha Reza Pahlavi promoted the development of football throughout the Iranian territory Getty Images
In the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, football grew in popularity and Iran became a regional power.. In 1968 the selection was crowned Asian Cup champion for the first time, at home and after beating Israel in the last game. That conquest went down in history and, according to historian Houchang Chehabi, it was the event that consolidated football as a mass phenomenon. The Six-Day War had ended a few months earlier and the Arab countries boycotted the tournament, giving the achievement a nationalistic tinge.
Iran played its first Qualifiers in 1973 but he did not get the classification when he fell against Australia. So Reza Pahlavi decided it was time to hire a world-renowned technical director and Frank O’Farrell arrived, who came from training Manchester United. The DT not only led the team to the title in the 1975 Asian Cup, but was also the teacher of the prince and his teammates. He left office in 1976, but he was key in the formation of the squad that qualified for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.
Less than a year after that World Cup, the revolution that caused the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty and that meant the establishment of the Islamic republic. Then, football not only ceased to be a priority for the state, but also became a tool of segregation, since women were banned from stadiums.
For almost two decades, the Iranians’ favorite pastime suffered a pronounced deterioration. First because of the war against Iraq and then because of the very nature of the Islamic regime. However, when it broke out again, it did so with the enormous force of popular movements. In November 1997, the National Team defeated Australia and qualified for the 1998 World Cup in France. Then, a crowd took to the streets to celebrate the victory, in what was the first such demonstration since the revolution. The signs of happiness for the classification also meant a defiance of the ayatollah’s dictates. David Goldblatt in his book The ball is round he explained that football was a «gathering point for opponents of theocracy’s conservatism».
The 1997 elections pitted conservative candidate Nateq-Nouri against reformist cleric Mohammad Khatami, who approached the idols of the national team. For him, football could coexist with Islam and generate a virtuous link with Western culture. Khatami won the elections and immediately led to the hiring of the Brazilian Valdeir Viera as coach for France 1998. It was him first foreign DT since the revolution. The story in that Cup is known: Iran did not pass the first phase but beat the United States in the most celebrated victory of all time.
Hamid Estili of Iran celebrates his goal against the United States at the 1998 World Cup in France Getty Images
That campaign and the hubbub it caused ended up dispelling doubts: football was something too big not to be valued by the rulers, whatever creed they are. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became president in 2005 and tried to deepen the opening by allowing women to attend matches.. Nevertheless, the law was annulled by the religious supreme and the political power accepted that annulment in a submissive way. Then, football became a tool of progressivism again.
In 2009, Ahmadinejad defeated reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. In a match against South Korea in Seoul, six national team players wore green wristbands, the color of Mousavi’s campaign. After the political gesture, these soccer players became symbols of the opposition protesters. Meanwhile, the president-elect, far from moving away from the national team, reaffirmed his intentions to support the Federation.
This interference has been precisely one of the great problems of Iranian football. The sports authorities were never able to maintain a clear independence from the power in power, which has caused several setbacks. In 2006, FIFA suspended the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF) from all international activities due to government interference in football affairs.. Mohammad Dadkan had been removed from the presidency of IRIFF at the suggestion of the physical education organization (today the ministry of sport).
In 2020, FIFA again threatened a suspension if the Federation did not change its statutes. That year, former president Ali Kafashian declared that despite official regulations, Iranian football was always under direct government control. The leader explained that in 2016, when the sports minister changed, he was forced to resign from his position.
The last years of the national team were tinged with various problems of an administrative nature. In 2019, Marc Wilmots resigned from his position as technical director because the IRIFF did not fulfill the obligations agreed in the contract. The Belgian was replaced by Dragan Skočić, who had a great campaign and qualified for Qatar 2022, although he was fired months before the start of the tournament. Once again, the shadow of the state hand is over the decision.
The person in charge of directing Iran in the World Cup will be Carlos Queiroz, the same one who was in Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018. The sense of continuity is nothing more than that. Turbulence has been common around the Iranian team, although the Portuguese knows how to handle the situation. He made it as soon as he got in 2011when imposed three conditions: the Federation cannot interfere in technical decisions, the collaborators are chosen by the…