California, US: The Governing body of American soccer temporarily removed the Islamic Republic of Iran’s symbol from the Iranian flag and posted it on social media in an act of solidarity with protesters.
The graphic, which was published on the United States Soccer Federation’s (USSF) official Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, has now been removed. Iran, however, claims that this is not enough and has demanded that America withdraw from the Football World Cup.
The Islamic Republic’s Flag has 3 red, white, and green horizontal bands with the word “Allah” scripted in the middle. According to a statement from the USSF, the phrase was taken down from the Soccer Federation’s posts as a sign of support for the “women in Iran fighting for basic human rights” following the passing of Iranian woman Ms. Mahsa Amini, 22, while she was in the care of morality police.
The Twitter account of the US men’s team displayed a banner with the squad’s matches in the group stage, with the Iranian Flag only bearing its green, white and red colours. The same was visible in a post outlining the group’s current point totals on its Facebook and Instagram profiles.
The Twitter banner had been changed back to the original Flag with the emblem, and the posts on Facebook and Instagram using the modified Flag had been taken down after the issue. Both Football Teams face each other in their final group-stage match on November 28th but a spokesman of the Iranian Soccer Federation has demanded that America be kicked out of the World Cup for an incident that they claimed had “disrespected” Iran’s flag.
