Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Players of Iran’s national team did not sing the country’s national anthem ahead of Monday’s game with England in the first round of the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar.
The players of the national team appeared with their mouths closed, without interacting with the moment in which the national anthem was played before the opening match of the World Cup.
On Sunday, Iranian international defender Ehsan Hajsafi announced his support for anti-government protests in his country. During a press conference on Sunday, he expressed his sympathy with the families of victims of clashes between security and protesters in Iran, saying: “They should know that we are with them, we support them and we sympathize with them.”
Haji Safi said there is no denying what is happening in Iran, adding that conditions in his country “are not good” and people are not happy and the players know it too. “I hope circumstances change.”
Portuguese coach, Carlos Queiroz, had previously announced that Iran had given the team the freedom to express their solidarity with the protests during the World Cup.
While fans of the Iranian national team raised banners to express their support for the protests in their country, during the match with the England national team, underway at the Khalifa International Stadium.
The video clips showed the Iranian masses holding up banners bearing the famous protest slogan “Women, Life, Freedom”.
Iran is seeing protests over the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, last September, while being held by the Iranian “morality police”, for allegedly not wearing the headscarf properly, and Iranian authorities have since launched a complaint crackdown campaign against protesters.
