U.S. Soccer social accounts briefly alter Iran flag in World Cup posts
DOHA, Qatar — The U.S. Soccer Federation displayed altered images of Iran’s flag on some of its social media accounts, a switch that drew attention ahead of the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup match against the Iranians. The federation said the change was intended to show solidarity with protests in the country and by Sunday had reverted, switching back to the official flag.
The alteration, which was visible on U.S. men’s national team social media accounts, removed a symbol in the middle of the flag associated with Iran’s clerical leaders.
The banner image on the team’s Twitter account Sunday morning featured a flag that includes Iran’s colors — red, green and white — but did not include a symbol that was added after the 1979 revolution, depicting a stylized rendering of the word for “God.” A similar image was included in a recent tweet about Group B standings. By Sunday afternoon, the official flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran replaced the altered image on the U.S. team’s Twitter account.
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Iran faces the United States on Tuesday, the final match of group play for both teams.
In a statement early Sunday, the USSF, which oversees all of the national teams, said the decision was made in recent days to “show support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights.” The changes were temporary, the federation said.
A State Department official said the decision wasn’t a coordinated effort between the department and the USSF. U.S. men’s national team players also weren’t looped in.
“We didn’t know anything about the posts, but we are supporters of women’s rights — we always have been,” U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman said at a news conference.
Protests in Iran broke out in September after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody. They have since grown into a nationwide uprising channeling an array of complaints against Iran’s clerical leaders. Hundreds of people have been killed during a crackdown on protests by the authorities, according to human rights groups.
During Iran’s previous two matches, tensions surfaced between supporters and opponents of the government, including over the flag, with some anti-government critics waving a pre-revolutionary flag or concealing the symbol on the current flag with black tape. Vigorous debates have occurred within the protest movement over which flag should be displayed.
The changes appeared on the men’s national team’s social media accounts but not on the USSF website. For instance, the page that features the upcoming schedule displays the Iranian flag with the post-revolution symbol.
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FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, declined to comment on the flag’s alteration.
The USSF has previously taken steps to show support for marginalized groups at this World Cup. In a media room at the team’s training center outside Doha, a large USSF logo on a wall features rainbow colors instead of red and blue, in support of the LGBTQ+ community. The display comes amid concerns over treatment of LGBTQ fans in Qatar, a conservative Muslim nation that criminalizes homosexuality, as well as efforts by FIFA to downplay the rainbow symbol, including by saying it would penalize players who wear rainbow armbands.
There was no immediate reaction from the Iran’s government to the altering of the flag. A commentary posted Sunday on the website of Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency called the removal of the symbol a “strange and insulting action that was undoubtedly aimed at creating tension and destroying the focus of Iran’s team.”
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Iran but is engaged in a number of delicate negotiations with the country through third-party intermediaries, including an effort to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
John Hudson contributed to this report.
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