Gold Coast: The Iranian women’s national soccer team staged a silent protest during their opening match of the Women’s Asian Cup, refusing to sing their national anthem as it played over the speakers at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
Ahead of their game against South Korea, the Iranian players lined up in their customary formation, but when the national anthem began, neither the players nor head coach Marziyeh Jafari sang, instead staring straight ahead and remaining largely motionless.
The silent protest comes in the wake of the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes by Israel and the United States.
During a post-match media session on Sunday, Iran captain Zahra Ghanbari and coach Jafari were asked about Khamenei’s death. Jafari responded in Farsi, but the AFC media representative cut off her response without translation, telling reporters, “OK, I think that’s all for your question. Thank you for asking. Let’s just focus on the game itself.”
On the field, South Korea secured the win with a first-half strike by Choe Yu-ri, followed by second-half goals from Kim Hye-ri and Ko Yoo-jin.
Despite the defeat, coach Jafari praised Team Melli Banovan for their performance in only their second Asian Cup finals, noting the challenge of facing South Korea, a team that has appeared 14 times in the tournament and reached the FIFA Women’s World Cup four times.
“We knew we would have a tough game ahead, as Korea is one of the strongest teams in Asia,” Jafari said. “They played very well, so I congratulate them and hope we can return to the competition strongly. We had a strategy for the second half, transitioning from defensive to offensive tactics. We conceded a penalty due to an individual error, and the set-piece goal was also our player’s mistake. But overall, the team’s performance was very good.”
With IANS inputs