After the Iranian national team refused to sing the national anthem before their match against England at the 2022 World Cup, CNN, one of the most reputable news outlets in the world, reported:
โThe families of Iranโs World Cup soccer team have been threatened with imprisonment and torture if the players fail to โbehaveโ ahead of the match against the USA on Tuesday,โ a source involved in tournament security said.
โThe source said that their families would face โviolence and tortureโ if they did not sing the national anthem or if they joined any political protest against the Tehran regime.โ
Tell me, how is the situation any different now?
If anything, itโs even more dangerous. The players are now on the soil of a country that the regime is actively at war with.
Team Melli has always belonged to the Iranian people. They are not puppets of the IRGC, they are being used as a propaganda tool by a regime that exploits every national symbol it can get its hands on.
#TeamMelli #Iran