On Sunday, the World Cup in men’s football begins in Qatar. The championship has been heavily criticized by both supporters, human rights organizations and public figures.
At a press conference yesterday, Iran’s national team was asked if they will refrain from singing the national anthem, to show support for the protests in their homeland. One of the players, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, then replied that: “It has to be decided within the team, which we have already talked about. We haven’t really made a big deal out of it. The only thing everyone thinks about and talks about is football”.
TV4 News’ foreign correspondent Johan Fredriksson, who is based in Qatar, tells about the reactions:
– It is a very tense situation where the regime is extremely pressured by the anger of the people – at the same time that the players want most of all to play football but also do not feel that they are letting the Iranian people down, he says.
Watch Johan Fredriksson tell more in the player above.