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Iran’s national team has drawn a fine line between expressing support for protesters at home and risking serious consequences from the regime. He has been criticized for not being more vocal about the regime’s violent crackdown on the world stage, the Associated Press reported. Some also cited Ezatolahi for not mentioning that Samak was killed by security forces.
The team also faced criticism early on for meeting and bowing to President Ebrahim Raisi before traveling to Qatar for the World Cup. But during the competition, the players carefully expressed their solidarity with the protesters at home.
Before the first match, team captain Ehsan Hajsafi acknowledged the oppression of Iranians at home, saying that “the situation in our country is not right.”
“We’re here, but that doesn’t mean we have to be their voice or that we don’t have to respect them,” he said.
His teammates also fell silent when the Iranian national anthem was played in the first match against England, which many interpreted as support for the protesters.
He was later threatened by members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and told his family would face “violence and torture” if they participated in political protests against the government, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources.
The team participated in the singing of the national anthem in two other matches, against Wales and then the USA.
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