FIFA World Cup 2022: After arrest threat, Iran players sing national anthem during Wales clash

After much criticism and arrest threat looming large, the Iran football team sang their national anthem during the FIFA World Cup on Friday (November 25). Taking on Walesat theAhmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Iran team were seen quietly singing the anthem. There were loud jeers from the Iranian supporters as the anthem played with the players singing this time around after much flak received when they chose to remain silent during the side's Qatar WC opener versus England.

The silent protest was due to the disturbance back home over the hijab row in Iran. It is to be noted that the Iranian authorities have reacted with deadly force to curbthe protests that have marked one of the biggest challenges for its clerical rulers following theIslamic revolution that shock the country back in 1979.

After Iran players didn't sing the anthem versus England, against whom they lost 2-6, a report suggested that the players, and fans who supported their protest, were in a spot of bother. "The Iranian regime has clearly demonstrated its determination and ruthlessness in seeking to quell that unrest, particularly in public settings," David E. Guinn, a University of Albany research professor of international law and human rights, told Newsweek.

“While the public standing of the players might shield them for a time, particularly while they are competing in the World Cup, that standing will also make them of greater concern to the regime. They don't want prominent individuals stepping forward to feed the flames,”he added.

It seems as if the outside pressure got to the Iranian players who, in turn, had to give in and sing the national anthem during the Wales face-off. The squad will be eager to stay away from any sort of controversy that adds more pressure on them so that they can focus solely on their FIFA WC campaign in Qatar.