US football federation briefly removes emblem from Iran flag on social media

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - The US football federation briefly displayed Iran’s national flag without the emblem on social media ahead of the World Cup game between the two sides.

The federation later restored Iran's national flag with the emblem, saying "we wanted to show our support for the women in Iran with our graphic for 24 hours."

Reacting to the move, Safiollah Fagahanpour, an adviser to the Iranian Football Federation, said that the “measures taken regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran flag are against the law” of FIFA competitions, according to Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency.

Iran has been rocked by protests since mid-September after the custodial death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

Iranian players have been under pressure at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar amid sweeping protests and unrest back home.

The team lost the first match against England last Monday as footballers refused to sing the national anthem.

On Friday, the Iranian national team won the second match against Wales with a 2-0 score.

Iran will play against the US team in the third game of the group on Tuesday.

England are top of Group B with four points while Iran are second with one point behind the leaders.

The US team are in third place with two points.