EDITORIAL: Iranian soccer players in a precarious position

What strikes anyone with an ounce of compassion is the bravery.

Iran’s women’s national football team lined up with the eyes of the world on them ahead of their opening game of the Women’s Asian Cup against South Korea.

It was just two days after the US-Israeli assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The team did not sing as the Iranian national anthem played. Their actions were widely interpreted as a silent protest against the regime.

The ramifications would have been crystal clear before they chose to make their point. And the fallout was immediate and predictable.

The country’s state television network called for the squad to be punished. TV presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said: “Traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely”.

“For you to go there and not sing the national anthem — this is the pinnacle of dishonour and lack of patriotism,” Shahbazi said. “Both the people and the officials should treat these individuals as wartime traitors.”

The message had been sent loud and clear. In their second and third games the players saluted and sang the anthem.

Clearly this is a group of women under immense pressure from the regime’s minders travelling with the team.

On Sunday the team was eliminated from the competition after a 2-0 loss to the Philippines.

A crowd then surrounded their bus chanting “let them go” as it left the stadium on the Gold Coast.

Video circulating online reportedly appears to show one player forming a heart shape toward the crowd from the bus while another woman appeared to make the international hand signal for help.

The potential paths they could find themselves on now are daunting.

If they return to Iran — although how that happens is uncertain as the war rages — they face imprisonment or worse.

Should they seek asylum in this country, their families in Iran face imprisonment or worse. If that has not happened already.

The players would have chosen their path knowing full well the fate of another Iranian soccer player, Zahra Azadpour, 27, who was gunned down by Islamic Republic forces in January while protesting in north central Iran. A 23-year-old female football referee was reportedly shot dead while protesting in Isfahan.

The lose-lose outcome the players face is illustrative of how women, in particular, are vulnerable in Iran.

This was made clear when the authoritarian regime’s repression saw the death in custody in 2022 of Mahsa Amini, 22, after being detained by morality police for allegedly violating mandatory hijab rules, sparking widespread unrest.

It is also illustrative of how the defeat of the regime has the potential to bring freedom to millions.

There is an old saying that sport and politics do not mix. In the real world the two are often closely intertwined.

These brave young women have shown it to be a combination that may mean life or death.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.