Iranian Soccer Players May Have Been Banned for Supporting Mousavi

I think some members of the Iranian Men's National Team might agree with Lord Acton, who said, "The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the party that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections."

Two weeks ago, Iran held its presidential election. The incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was announced the winner, and protesters, questioning the veracity of the results, promptly mobilized. Seventeen people have since died although the demonstrations continue.

The protesters included several members of Iran's soccer team, who showed their solidarity with opposition leader Mir Hossain Mousavi by wearing green armbands during the June 17 World Cup qualifying match against South Korea.

Green was adopted as the colour of Mousavi's campaign and has been widely displayed in opposition street protests in Iran's post-election turmoil.

At least seven Iranian players wore the bands in the first half against South Korea, although most were forced to take them off before the second.

Following the match it was reported that two Iranian players who had worn the green wristbands, Ali Karimi and Mehdi Mahdavikia, had been "banned for life" from the national team, although other news outlets suggested that they had just "retired."

FIFA later asked Iran to clarify the reports, and yesterday they got their response:

The governing body of world football says the Iranian Football Federation has denied claims that national team players were punished for wearing green wristbands in solidarity with the political opposition during a World Cup qualifier.

FIFA says it received a letter from the Iranian federation "which stated that no disciplinary action has been imposed on any players of the Iran national team by any authority."

I'm guessing there's more to it than that, even if this is the last we hear of it. Either way, it offers some perspective: sometimes it's about more than just soccer.