The Iranian national anthem was greeted with loud boos ahead of the team’s Pride match against Egypt on Friday night.
Iran faced Mohamed Salah and co. in Seattle in the hope of reaching the knockout stages of the World Cup in a Group G clash that coincidentally fell on the scheduled date for FIFA’s Pride match.
As it had been before Iran’s opening two games of the World Cup, the team’s national anthem was booed by a section of the crowd inside Lumen Field.
The anthem had received a similar hostile reception before the team’s opener against New Zealand and their following Group G game against Belgium.
The reaction followed yet more protests against the Iranian regime outside the stadium before kickoff.
Those who still oppose the government in Tehran made themselves known by waving the pre-revolutionary flag, which includes the depiction of a sword-wielding lion and a sun.
The Iranian national anthem was greeted with loud boos ahead of the team’s Pride match
Iran faced Egypt in Seattle on Friday in their final Group G game of the World Cup
The also held up images of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last Shah, who remains a prominent figure in the Iranian opposition movement.
The number of pre-revolutionary Iranian flags – which have been banned by FIFA – dwarfed the number of Pride flags around Downtown Seattle.
Chants of ‘they are terrorists, they must go,’ rang out before the protestors clashed with Iranian fans supporting the team at the matchup.
Iran and Egypt’s participation in the Pride match sparked controversy, given the two nation’s appalling LGBTQ+ rights record.
Egypt and Iran are two of the most repressive places in the world for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Same-sex relations are illegal in Iran, where gay men have been executed on sodomy charges, while Egypt has prosecuted gay and lesbian people and suppressed outward expressions of gay pride, including rainbow flags.
Before the Iranian coach and goalkeeper answered any questions in their press conference ahead of the match on Thursday, a FIFA official spoke up.
Daniel Marin, FIFA’s executive director of public relations, read a statement on behalf of the Iranian team in light of the Pride celebration.
Protests broke out outside the stadium ahead of Iran’s World Cup game on Friday
‘This Islamic Republic of the Iran Football Federation has asked us to inform the media that they are only willing to answer questions in relation to the game,’ Marin said.
‘We fully respect the right of all journalists to ask questions. In this case, we ask you respect the rights of the federation here today to only answer questions in relation to the team, the tactics, the match, and so on.’
Nonetheless, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei was peppered with questions about what will transpire inside Lumen Field and around the stadium on Friday.
Egypt took a similar approach to the Iranians in trying to steer the conversation back to the match and away from the Pride festivities.
At Thursday’s practice at Husky Soccer Stadium in Seattle, Egypt players were barred from answering questions about Pride. Team staffers stepped in and would not allow reporters to ask such questions.
‘We are all focused on football,’ Egypt coach Hossam Hassan said in Arabic. ‘This is all that we think about.’
