Iranian protestors have vowed to put their national team through ‘hell’ during Monday night’s opening game of the World Cup.
Iran players and staff flew in from Tijuana to Los Angeles on Sunday ahead of their game against New Zealand, which takes place against the backdrop of war with the United States and months of uncertainty over the team’s World Cup participation.
The Iranian delegation was given a police escort to the team hotel, where they were met by a small demonstration. Opponents of the regime also showed up to the team’s open training session, chanting for Donald Trump to ‘finish the job’ and forcing police to intervene after clashes broke out between rival factions.
Los Angeles has the biggest Iranian diaspora outside of the country and some in those communities accuse the national team of representing the government rather than its people.
Up to 35,000 protestors are said to be planning demonstrations both inside and outside SoFi Stadium, with one claiming they will boo the Iranian national anthem and defy FIFA by bringing pre-revolutionary flags into the stands.
‘We’re going to make it hell tomorrow,’ said the lady, who bought a ticket to the game along with many of her fellow activists. ‘There are buses scheduled to leave from San Diego, Orange County, and different cities in LA to come to the stadium… we’re going to have hell for them.’
Iranian protestors have vowed to put their national team through ‘hell’ at the World Cup
Iran players and staff flew to Los Angeles on Sunday ahead of their game against New Zealand
Some Iranian-Americans accuse the team of representing the government, not the people
They explained: ‘We’re going to boo the anthem that is going to play. We’re going to turn our backs during the anthem so we will have our flags showing.’
FIFA has barred supporters from bringing pre-revolutionary Iranian flags – which feature a lion and sun emblem – to games during the World Cup. But that decision is being challenged by a lawsuit.
‘I know FIFA banned it but we will make a way to get it in. So we’re going to see this flag, not the terrorist regime’s flag,’ added the activist, who wore a cap carrying the word MIGA (Make Iran Great Again).
The Iranian government has said the team manager is ‘responsible’ for stopping games ‘if unofficial flags are ​brought or slogans against the national team are chanted in the stadiums.’
The campaigner responded: ‘They can stop as much as they want, we don’t care. It’s their problem. It is what it is – you don’t want it? You should not come. [We would rather] they lose.’
Some people are reportedly planning to wear lion-and-sun T-shirts and wave the country’s flag from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution in protest at Tehran’s deadly crackdown on dissent earlier this year, when thousands were killed.
There are fears that chaos could envelop SoFi Stadium and opponents of the regime know they could provoke a furious reaction from government supporters.
Protestors from different sides clashed near Los Angeles following the team’s arrival in the US
Police officers were forced to step in during the demonstration at Iran’s open training session
‘Anything is possible,’ one said. ‘They’re going to get very mad because there’s going to be a lot of us… so they might get very angry, and very anxious.’
Some people have argued that the players are simply young men doing their jobs in difficult circumstances. But the protestor insisted: ‘From their actions, they show that they’re not the supporters of the Iranian people.Â
‘They’re a propaganda [arm] of the Islamic regime who are terrorists… they could have not played for them. They choose to do it, they’re in this mess right now.’
Iran’s second World Cup game, against Belgium, will also take place in Los Angeles before a clash with Egypt in Seattle. Protests are expected to follow the team north to Washington, with opponents of the regime even set to come down from across the Canadian border to make their voices heard.
On Sunday, they chanted for President Donald Trump to ‘finish the job’ and branded the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ‘terrorists.’
An estimated 230,000 Iranian-Americans live around LA, with one area – nicknamed ‘Tehrangeles’ – filled with families of those who fled following the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s.
During a press conference on Friday, Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei insisted his and his players’ focus would not be on what is going on in the stands.
‘We don’t pay attention to any of the hype and anything that goes on around us,’ Ghalenoei said, insisting his team are here simply to ‘represent the respectful people of Iran, be it the Iranians inside Iran or the Iranian diaspora.’
Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei insisted his team’s focus would be on the field, not the stands
Ghalenoei’s players arrived in Los Angeles from their new base in Tijuana on Sunday
Ghalenoei added: ‘We are not political people… football is separate from politics.’
Iran’s participation in the World Cup has been fraught with uncertainty and conflict ever since war broke out with the US and Israel. The team moved its training base to Mexico from Arizona, while some key officials have been denied visas.
US officials said visas had been issued to all players and ‘necessary support staff’ but that Iran could not ‘abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.’
President Trump announced a peace deal Sunday but the Iran bus arrived at the team hotel under police escort, with drones and dogs and surveillance systems in place. The hotel is a 15-minute drive from LAX airport and at least one person was escorted from near the entrance by police.
