Fans see double standard in politics ban at World Cup

Reuters Videos
2 年前

STORY: Soccer fans flocked to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar bearing flags to cheer their teams, but some told Reuters that their banners and messages were banned, all depending on the politics.

Palestinian fans said they were pleasantly surprised to find their symbols welcomed.

SAEED KHALIL: "In a different country, maybe someone would hesitate to carry the Palestinian flag, during such an occasion, the World Cup, an international, or historic or sporting event. But here it is the first World Cup where we see, on TV and everywhere, that there is a welcoming attitude towards the Palestinians here.

But Mideast politics are tangled, and there was no similar courtesy to those seeking to show solidarity with protesters in Iran.

Following the Iranian team’s defeat against the U.S. Wednesday, Reuters journalists saw guards chase men in activist shirts through the stadium precinct, tackling one to the ground as he screamed the cry of Iran's anti-government protesters: "Woman Life Freedom."

Farshad was an eyewitness to the incident

"He had a shirt in his hand with the slogan 'Woman, Life, Freedom' and then he chanted 'Woman, Life, Freedom' which the security or police or whatever you call them, we have same issue in Iran, they can't even let people have their basic rights or express themselves. Then they pinned him - the guy - down, and they took his shirt away, they tried, but he resisted, then they took him away."

According to an email from FIFA’s Human rights department shared with Reuters, the soccer association told fans who complained about treatment at earlier Iran matches, that 'Women.Life.Freedom' or the name or portrait of Mahsa Amini - the woman whose death in Iranian police custody sparked the unrest - are allowed in stadiums.

But this seemed potentially at odds with a FIFA Qatar World Cup stadium code of conduct prohibiting banners, flags, fliers, apparel and other paraphernalia of a "political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature."

A FIFA spokesperson said it was "aware of some incidents where permitted items were not allowed to be displayed at stadiums," and continued to work closely with Qatar to ensure full implementation of regulations.