About 30 passionate protesters gathered outside the massive FIFA Congress in Vancouver on Thursday. They demanded that the global soccer organization completely ban the Iranian national soccer team from the upcoming World Cup. The demonstrators waved vibrant Iranian flags and held large cardboard signs supporting opposition leader Reza Pahlavi. They shouted that the current 26-man soccer squad represents the deadly Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, not the 88 million everyday citizens living in Iran.
Pouria Mahmoudi organized this small but loud rally through his activist group called Mission for My Homeland. He spoke clearly to reporters about the true purpose of the sports team. He stated that the athletes do not travel to represent the Iranian people. Instead, he believes the team goes to foreign stadiums to normalize a terrible massacre happening back home. He demanded that FIFA immediately kick the team out of the $5 billion tournament.
The Iranian national team officially qualified for the huge soccer tournament, which runs for exactly 39 days from June 11 to July 19. However, their upcoming matches face major scheduling drama. Government officials in Tehran recently asked FIFA to move their games away from United States soil. A bitter 2-month military and political conflict between Iran, the United States, and Israel caused this sudden request. Tehran leaders want zero part in bringing their athletes to American cities.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino entirely rejected the idea of moving the games. He spoke to reporters on Thursday and stated he fully expects the Iranian team to travel to the United States and play their 3 scheduled group matches. A few hours later, United States President Donald Trump publicly agreed with Infantino. Trump stated that the games should take place exactly where organizers planned them, ignoring Tehran’s angry demands.
Back in January, brave Iranian citizens launched massive anti-government protests across the entire country. State security forces answered these peaceful protests with severe street violence. Human rights groups estimate thousands of people died during this brutal 4-week crackdown. Mahmoudi reminded reporters that the Iranian government even killed local athletes and young footballers who joined the street protests.
The protest leader argued that the massive death toll easily outweighs any single player’s dream of competing in a global sports tournament. He asked why FIFA stays completely quiet about dead Iranian soccer players. He pointed out that FIFA totally banned Russia from playing in the previous World Cup. The Vancouver protesters expect the soccer organization to treat Iran the same way and issue a 100 percent complete ban on the nation.
Meanwhile, a massive diplomatic dispute unfolded at the busy Toronto airport earlier this week. Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj tried to enter Canada to attend the Vancouver soccer meetings. He traveled with 3 other officials and held a perfectly valid travel visa. However, strict Canadian immigration officers stopped the group at the border checkpoint and forced them to turn right back around.
The Canadian government officially designates the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a dangerous terrorist organization. Mehdi Taj previously served as an active member of this exact military group. Canadian border officials made individual entry decisions and determined that Taj could not enter the country because of his past military ties. Tehran leaders threw a huge fit and called the strict border decision totally unacceptable behavior.
Mahmoudi celebrated the swift airport deportation as a massive victory for his activist group. He said his team contacted local authorities the very second they heard Taj planned to visit Canada. He expressed deep happiness that Canadian border agents sent the federation president packing on the next flight out. Mahmoudi noted that this specific success proves that the united Iranian people can achieve big things together.
The clock ticks down quickly to the June 11 opening ceremony. Millions of soccer fans around the globe wait to see if the Iranian team will actually step onto an American field. Protesters promise they will keep showing up and shouting until FIFA officially kicks the Islamic Republic out of international soccer forever.
