Chang'an Street Governor WeChat Official Account | Reporter Mengjiang
At 3:00 am on November 30, Beijing time, the Iranian team and the United States will face each other in the third round of the World Cup Group B group stage to compete for a qualifying place. On the eve of the war, both sides were involved in a "national flag storm". The Iranian flag was tampered with in the pictures posted by the US National Men's Football Team a few days ago, which triggered strong protests from Iran.
According to multiple foreign media reports, on the 28th local time, Gregg Berhalter, head coach of American men's football team, apologized for the matter on behalf of the players and staff, but he argued that the staff and players of the US team "had not participated in it."
Greg Berhart Source: AFP
"We don't know what the US Football Association has released, including staff and players, we don't know. All we can do is apologize on behalf of the players and staff, but we are not involved." Berhart said at a press conference that day.
Berhart also said, "Sometimes things are beyond our control, and the team's focus is on the upcoming games."
According to previous reports from Russia and other media today, the US team previously released pictures of the Qatar World Cup Group B group stage standings on social platforms, and arbitrarily tampered with the Iranian flag to a green, white, and red tricolor flag, lacking the central national emblem logo. The U.S. Football Association told US media that the move was to "support Iranian women's fight for human rights."
's approach immediately aroused dissatisfaction on Iran. Iran's Tasnim News Agency said that the US Football Association's move "is not in line with the World Cup constitution" and the US team should be immediately expelled from the game and suspended for 10 games. Officials from the Iranian Football Association said they have filed a complaint against FIFA on the matter.
"Respecting a country's flag is a recognized international practice and all countries must comply with it. (US Football Association) Actions taken against the Iranian flag are immoral, which violates international law ." Safia Allah Faganpur, legal counsel for the Iran Football Association, said.
After Iran protests, the currently incorrect Iranian flag picture has been removed, and the US men's football team's social media account has been restored to use the correct Iranian flag picture. The US Football Association said that this behavior was only "one-time".
The American men's football social media account has been exchanged for the correct Iranian flag. Social media screenshot
It is reported that the US team and Iran have only met once on the World Cup stage: in the first round of the 1998 World Cup group stage, the US team lost 1:2 to Iran. Faced with the upcoming group stage life and death battle, Iranian coach Queros previously said: "Facing against the US team will be the most important game in my life."
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