While this would be hilarious, I’m not sure we want to set a precedent that says that FIFA is the arbiter of international law.
. . .
A representative of Iran’s soccer federation on Sunday called for the United States to be expelled from soccer’s World Cup over social media posts that the federation claimed had “disrespected” Iran’s flag.
The United States Soccer Federation drew Iran’s ire by including a doctored Iran flag in two posts on its official social media accounts on Saturday. A spokesman for U.S. Soccer said the decision to use an Iranian flag stripped of the country’s official emblem and two lines of Islamic script in posts on Twitter and Instagram was intentional, and meant to show support for the women of Iran — a nod to protests that have roiled Iran at home and followed its team to the World Cup in Qatar.
Iran condemned the decision to use an incorrect flag, which it said violated the statutes of FIFA, world soccer’s global governing body.
“Respecting a nation’s flag is an accepted international practice that all other nations must emulate,” Safia Allah [Redacted, caught in filter], a legal adviser to Iran’s soccer federation, said in comments reported by a semiofficial state news agency in Iran. “The action conducted in relation to the Iranian flag is unethical and against international law.”
. . .
The U.S. Soccer spokesman, who requested anonymity to discuss internal discussions, said the American federation had not been contacted by FIFA about the social media posts. But it said it had deleted the two posts after a series of internal discussions on Sunday and would use Iran’s official flag moving forward.
The US. players and their coach, Gregg Berhalter, were not involved in the decision to use the incorrect flag or to remove it, the spokesman said.
Yeah the US team is totally supporting women by removing the text "God is Great". Totally not just western bigotry and disrespect.
Maybe the US should shut the fuck up about praising god on the edifices, flags, and seals of state institutions.
but have you considered that Arabic is a spooooky language the bad people on tv speak
Iran should post a flag of yank and remove all 50 stars, decolonize.
Chauvinists: I get to decide what everyone else’s flag is!
yeah but this means it's now legit to fly the starless US flag, to represent that none of that land is theirs and they should give it all back.
Nah dude just start posting modified :amerikkka: s it's real easy
If they like this flag, maybe they shouldn’t overthrow Mossadegh
This whole nonsense is proving everything that Klinsmann said about Iran's football culture was correct. Look, I am obviously not going to defend this asinine flag, but calling for the US to be expelled from the WC? Stop it, Iran. I know most people here care more about the geopolitics of this match than the sport, but Iran's team is the biggest bunch of whiners, divers and absolute crybabies in the world. It's like 11 Neymars running around all the time. I get it, the US is the great satan, Whatever. It's a fucking football match and Iran's national football team is a disgrace.
But Klinsmann didn't say it was in Iran's football culture, he said it was inherent to their culture. Nobody is saying the same shit about Costa Rica, or other teams who have to play inherently defensively due to a lack of options.
He specifically said "football culture". I've heard it three times now. He wasn't saying anything about the culture of the country of Iran, he was only speaking to their national football team and he was absolutely on point. Why would anyone have anything to say about Costa Rica? They're in a dead period after a golden generation. They finished fourth in CONCACAF and had to get in via a play-in game. They're doing the best they can with what they've got. You don't see them going down when an opposing player comes within half a meter of them.
I have only seen it written as "culture" without football before your comment
If you go back and watch the broadcast Klinsmann's vitriol was mostly directed at Iran's coach. I'm old, but I'm not old enough to remember Klinsmann's playing days or if he has bad blood with Carlos Queiroz. He also went on to compare Iran's football culture to that of the poorer nations in Central America that pull a lot of the same unsportsmanlike stuff that Iran does. If people want to go after him, they should do so on the basis of being completely oblivious to the wealth disparity between Central American countries and the US or being ignorant of the damage done by the US's economic sanctions on Iran. It's pretty obvious that he wasn't comparing the cultural history of Iran and Guatemala, who are about as culturally dissimilar as two nations could be, but solely referring to football.
