The United States Soccer Federation temporarily showed Iran’s national flag on social media without the Islamic Republic’s symbol, saying the gesture backed Iranian demonstrators ahead of the two countries’ World Cup match on Wednesday. The Iranian administration responded by accusing America of removing the name of God off the country’s flag. “The United States football team violated the Fifa code by publishing a distorted image of the Islamic Republic of Iran flag on its official Twitter profile, for which a 10-game suspension is the proper penalty,” according to the Iran-based Tasnim News Agency.
— Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) November 27, 2022 According to a State Department official, the US Soccer decision to replace Iran’s flag on its social media accounts to indicate solidarity for demonstrators in Iran was not coordinated with the State Department. “On the field, we are looking forward to a pleasant and competitive contest.” The US “continues to seek methods to assist the Iranian people in the face of state-sponsored brutality against women and a violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators,” the State Department told CNN. FIFA did not react quickly to CNN’s request for comment. Iran and the United States meet in a key Group B match on Tuesday. If the US is to advance to the knockout stages, it must win this tie.
