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Iran's National Soccer Team joins Protest for Hossein Mousavi

by albertacowpoke | June 17, 2009 at 01:55 pm

291 views | 78 Recommendations | 9 comments

Iran's National Soccer Side played a World Cup qualifying match against South Korea in Seoul. When the team ran onto field, at the start of the game, players wore a green armband in support of Hussein Mousavi.

Mousavi supporters want a repeat of the Presidential vote that took place on Friday.

The protest, in which not all of the players participated, was seen as substantial support. The game was broadcast live in Iran.

Mehdi Mahdavikia, team captain, and a player that plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Bundesliga and 5 others participated in this act of defiance.

At half time, apparently a call was received from Iran and the team, with the exception of Mehdi Mahdavikia, did not return with the armbands of protest.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

17. Juni 2009 Einige Spieler der iranischen Nationalmannschaft sind beim WM-Qualifikationsspiel am Mittwoch gegen Südkorea in Seoul mit grünen Armbändern aufgelaufen. Grün ist die Farbe des iranischen Oppositionsführers Mir Hussein Mussawi, dessen Anhänger eine Wiederholung der Präsidentschaftswahl vom vergangenen Freitag erreichen wollen.

Die Demonstration mit grünen Schweißbändern, an der sich nicht alle Spieler beteiligten, wurde in Iran als sensationelle Parteinahme gewertet. Viele Millionen Menschen in dem fußballbegeisterten Land verfolgten die Partie live im Fernsehen.

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René

at 14:33 on June 17th, 2009

Hope they don't face arrest when they return to Iran.

Jon Azpiri

at 15:40 on June 17th, 2009

This is a remarkably gutsy move. Unlike the protesters in Iran who can get lost in the crowd, these players have attached their names and faces to the anti-Ahminedjad movement. Hopefully, they won't face serious repercussions. As you said, most of them live outside of Iran. Let's hope they will be able to return to their native country safely.

Paschen

at 17:08 on June 17th, 2009

This will have a massive impact, they are the pride of Iran.

Amy Judd

at 17:56 on June 17th, 2009

Good for them, they can have a lot of influence.

Yuliya Talmazan

at 21:29 on June 17th, 2009

I agree with Jon. What a gutsy move. Iraqi national soccer team comes to mind with all the suffering they had to go through when Saddam Hussein was in power.