FIFA’s ban on pre-revolutionary Iran flags at the World Cup will remain in place following a last-minute hearing held just hours before the nation’s opening tournament match. Iran face New Zealand at 2am BST on Tuesday morning.
It appears the flag in question will not be permitted inside the stadium. FIFA had already prohibited it, but the decision faced a legal challenge from an Iran supporter planning to attend the fixture.
The flag bears a resemblance to the official national flag but features a distinctive lion and sun motif at its centre. It is associated with the former regime, which was toppled in 1979.
According to The Athletic, the case was heard on Monday morning in Los Angeles, where Judge Curtis A. Kin ruled that the ban would stand.
“Free speech is incredibly important, it is sacred, a bedrock of our society, but it is not without limitation, such as private actor, on private property, and as shown by previous cases, regulating in reasonable way. I deny the application,” he said.
He further remarked: “There may be harm to some 2,500 staff members who have to deal with safety protocols. It is a tremendous burden to change a long-standing stadium protocol for a massive event in a period of hours. It is hard to see how FIFA could make a change at one stadium and not the rest.”
When asked by The Athletic whether the flag would be prohibited, FIFA replied: “Any materials, including but not limited to banners, flags, fliers, apparel and other paraphernalia, that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature, containing wording, symbols or any other attributes aimed at discrimination of any kind against a country, private person or group on account of race, skin colour, ethnicity, national or social origin, gender identity and expression, disability, language, religion, political opinion or any other opinion, birth, wealth or any other status, sexual orientation or on any other grounds.”
Iran face New Zealand at the SoFi Stadium in California on Tuesday. Their second Group G fixture pits them against Belgium on June 31, before they round off their group campaign against Egypt on June 26.
The country’s involvement in the tournament had been thrown into doubt following the conflict between Iran and the United States, though an agreement to bring hostilities to an end has since been reached. Nevertheless, there are concerns that the nation’s national anthem could be targeted by activist protests. Speaking ahead of the fixture, head coach Amir Ghalenoei insisted his players would tune out any distractions.
“We don’t pay attention to any of the hype and anything that goes on around us,” he said, before adding: “We are not political people… football is separate from politics.”