By Rory Carroll
VANCOUVER, April 30 (Reuters) – Iran’s soccer team represents the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), not the people of Iran, and FIFA should ban the team from participating in the upcoming World Cup, protesters gathered outside the FIFA Congress in Vancouver said on Thursday.
“This is not Iran, this is the Islamic Republic’s team. This is IRGC’s team,” said Pouria Mahmoudi, an organiser with Mission for My Homeland, which brought together about 30 protesters draped in Iranian flags and holding signs supporting Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi.
“They’re here not to represent Iran. They’re here to normalise what’s happening in Iran, the massacre in Iran. So, no, they should not be in the World Cup,” he told Reuters.
Iran have qualified for the June 11-July 19 tournament but their participation has been fraught, with Tehran requesting alternative venues for matches on U.S. soil amid the nation’s two-month old conflict with the United States and Israel.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino reiterated on Thursday that he expected Iran to participate and play matches in the U.S., and U.S. President Donald Trump later in the day said he agreed with Infantino’s position.
CRACKDOWN ON PROTESTERS
Anti-government protests in Iran in January were met with a brutal crackdown by the state in which thousands died. Mahmoudi said the carnage outweighed the desire of the players on the team to compete at the tournament.
“How about those are killed, the Iranian footballers, who are killed also? FIFA shouldn’t be quiet about them,” he said.
“People should speak up about the athletes who have been killed, especially the footballers. Russia was banned from the World Cup… so we expect FIFA to do the same.”
Iranian football federation officials, including president Mehdi Taj, were due to attend the gathering in Vancouver but turned back at Toronto airport after what Tehran described as “unacceptable behaviour” by Canadian immigration authorities, despite travelling with valid visas.
Canadian officials said entry decisions were made on a case-by-case basis and reiterated that individuals linked to the IRGC, which Ottawa designates as a terrorist organisation, were inadmissible.
Taj is a former member of the IRGC.
“The moment we heard that he was coming to Canada, we tried our best to deport him, and we’re happy that it happened,” Mahmoudi said.
“This is really great success for us. It shows that Iranian people, when they’re united, can do big things.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; editing by Clare Fallon)
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