Iran demands ban for US for ‘offending country’s dignity’ with flag at World Cup

Prior to a crucial Group B match between Iran and the United States at the FIFA World Cup on Tuesday, the US Soccer Federation infuriated Iran by displaying the country's national flag without the Islamic Republic's emblem. Further, Iran claimed that in doing so, the US has been supporting Iranian demonstrators. Notably, Iranians have been protesting after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody for not wearing her headscarf properly.

The Iranian administration responded by charging the United States with erasing the name of God from their flag. Iran's football federation urged that their opponents deserve a 10-game suspension for "offending the dignity" of their nation, The Guardian reported.  

This unexpected demand came after the US Soccer Federation, in support of Iranian demonstrators, posted an image of Iran's national flag on social media, in a now-deleted picture, without the Islamic Republic's emblem. 

(Image: AP)

Furthermore, on Sunday, US Soccer informed CNN that it had always intended to return to the original flag after changing it for a 24-hour period to demonstrate "support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights." 

Iran alleged US had insulted the Iranian flag

However, the Islamic Republic of Iran's football federation retaliated by filing a complaint with FIFA's ethics committee, alleging that the US had insulted the Iranian flag. 

As per The Guardian report, the semi-official Tasnim news agency attributed it to a legal consultant of the Iranian football organisation. The agency reported, “According to section 13 of FIFA rules, any person who offends the dignity or integrity of a country, a person or group of people shall be sanctioned with a suspension lasting at least 10 matches or a specific period, or any other appropriate disciplinary measure”.  

The agency claimed that the US federation has removed “the symbol of Allah” from the 1980-designed Iranian flag. It is pertinent to mention that the Islamic phrase "There is no god but Allah" is portrayed on the flag by the four curves with a sword in the middle of them. 

In the meantime, the flag has been a significant topic of dispute at the 2022 World Cup, with Iran supporters, who disagree with the government in Tehran, choosing to wave the lion and sun flag—a symbol of the country's late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. However, before their most recent match against Wales, small groups of men in favour of the Iranian regime were observed yelling "the Islamic Republic of Iran" at ladies giving interviews to foreign media outside the stadium. 

Although FIFA has declined to comment, as per The Guardian report, a number of reliable sources have said that a US ban is extremely unlikely. 

(Image: AP)