The removal of the symbol of Allah from the flag of Iran led to a complaint by the country before FIFA against the United States soccer federation, on the eve of the confrontation of the teams in the 2022 World Cup, this Tuesday, in Qatar.
“In an unprofessional act, the Instagram page of the American Football Association removed the symbol of Allah from the Iranian flag,” denounced the official news agency Irna, which revealed the fact that the Iranian federation had sent an email to FIFA “to demand that it send a serious warning” to its counterpart.
According to the semi-official Tasnim agency, quoted by The Guardian, the complaint came from a legal adviser to the Iranian federation and is aimed at expelling the Americans from the tournament.
“According to section 13 of the FIFA rules, any person who offends the dignity or integrity of a country must be sanctioned with a suspension of at least ten matches or a specified period or any other appropriate disciplinary measure,” he writes.
According to article 13 of #FIFA regulations, any person who offends the dignity or integrity of a country, a person or a group of people… will be sanctioned with a suspension of at least ten games or a certain time, or any other appropriate disciplinary measure. https://t.co/9t2AxhvyMo pic.twitter.com/ZtJenXEJgs
– Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) November 27, 2022
The flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran is made up of the colors green, white and red and in the center it has a stylized form of the word Allah, which was taken from the flag in an Instagram post on the page of the American federation .
The “unique act” was justified by the Americans as a way to “show solidarity with the women of Iran”, recalling that the “flag never underwent changes on the federation’s website”.
On Tuesday, the match between Iran and the United States will mark the return of the World Cup, in a duel that, in addition to always having great political repercussions, will decide who advances in the competition.
After two rounds, Iran are second in Group B, with three points, one more than the United States: England lead with four, while Wales have one.
The countries have not maintained diplomatic relations since 1980, a few months after the hostage incident at the United States embassy in Tehran, in November 1979: even so, at the 1998 World Cup in France there were scenes of fraternization between players from both countries .
Iran is currently the scene of a large protest movement sparked on September 16 by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, who died after being detained by the moral police.
Source: TSF
