Iran’s men’s national football team wore black armbands and held schoolbags as their anthem played ahead of a match in Turkey on Friday in what a team official said was a protest over the killing of schoolgirls on the first day of the Iran war.
Iran were playing a friendly against Nigeria in the resort town of Belek ahead of this summer’s World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada where their participation is in doubt over the conflict which began at the end of last month.
The men lined up holding pink and purple bags with ribbons on them – a reference to the attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh School which Tehran says killed more than 175 people including children and teachers on the first day of joint US-Israeli strikes on 28 February.
“The players are holding the school bags close to their heart in remembrance of the 165 girls the Americans killed in an Iranian school,” a media official for the Iranian team explained to Reuters.
US military investigators believe it is likely that US forces were responsible but have not yet reached a final conclusion or completed their investigation.
Earlier this month, some of Iran’s women’s soccer team stayed quiet during the national anthem at an Asian Cup match, leading state TV in Tehran to brand them “traitors”.
US President Donald Trump said earlier this month that while Iran’s national team were welcome to play in the US, it might not be appropriate for their “life and safety.”
Iran’s football federation said it is in discussions with football’s world governing body Fifa about moving its World Cup matches to Mexico from the US. Fifa has indicated that its current stance is for Iran to play their matches in the US as scheduled.
The squad will also play Costa Rica on Tuesday in another friendly in Turkey.
