Gamesmanship? Or a sign of solidarity with protesters in Iran who are fighting for women’s equality among other issues?
The U.S. soccer team removed an emblem from the Iranian flag on its World Cup website, saying it represented the USMNT’s solidarity with the women protesting in Iran. Iran was livid, accusing the U.S. of violating World Cup rules by removing the word “God” from its flag.
That’s a load of cow manure.
The Islamic Republic emblem, designed in 1980, is four curves with a sword between them. It represents the Islamic saying: “There is no god but God.” It also resembles a tulip or lotus.
At the top and the bottom of the flag, there are 22 inscriptions of “God is Great” as well, which honors the date on the Persian calendar when the Islamic Revolution took hold.
But if you’re looking to rile up the entire Muslim world against the U.S., it works pretty well.
US Men's National Football Team @USMNT removed the Islamic Republic's emblem from Iran's flag, neutralizing it.
After few hours flags were changed back. pic.twitter.com/N0snqqW99R
— In Context (@incontextmedia) November 27, 2022
The Iranian flag without the emblem was on the website for only a few hours before someone probably noticed this rule of international soccer.
“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,” a legal adviser to Iran’s soccer federation told the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Iran wants the U.S. suspended for mucking up its national flag. But, given the contributions the U.S. has made to international soccer in terms of sponsor money and ad revenue, that isn’t likely to happen.
U.S. Soccer said in a statement Sunday morning it decided to forego the official flag on social media accounts to show “support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.” The Twitter account of the U.S. men’s team displayed a banner for the squad’s matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The same was seen in a post on its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
But by Sunday afternoon, the normal flag with the emblem had been restored in the Twitter banner and on the Facebook and Instagram posts.
“We wanted to show our support for the women in Iran with our graphic for 24 hours,” the federation said.
The players didn’t notice the absent emblem on the website.
“We didn’t know anything about the posts but we are supporters of women’s rights,” U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman said. “We’re focused a lot on Tuesday, on the sporting side, as well… I think it’s such a focused group on the task but at the same time we empathize and we are firm believers in women’s rights and support them.”
The U.S. plays Iran on Tuesday and needs a win, or it will be forced to go home.
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