When Football Means the Same Thing for Putin and Khamenei

Iranwire – In less than 60 days, Iranian football has experienced an unprecedented level of “open security actions” against footballers, coaches, referees, and spectators. 

On March 12, 2024, the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards began a campaign at the Sports Ministry to oust Mahsa Ghorbani, an international referee for Iranian women’s football.

Hossein Hosseini, the goalkeeper for Esteghlal FC, was suspended and fined for hugging a female fan. 

Football star Yahya Golmohammadi was blocked from signing a contract with Tractor FC until he complied with the Revolutionary Guards’ conditions.

 Shahnaz Yari was barred from coaching Iran’s women’s clubs and national futsal teams.

Women have been banned from entering several sports stadiums.

In less than 60 days, Iranian football has experienced an unprecedented level of “open security actions” against footballers, coaches, referees, and spectators. 

Each of these actions alone could jeopardize the country’s standing with national and international football federations and the International Olympic Committee.

The escalation began on March 12, 2024- when the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC-IO) started its project at the Sports Ministry to oust Mahsa Ghorbani, an international referee for Iranian women’s football – until imposing a fine on Hossein Hosseini, the goalkeeper of Esteghlal FC, for hugging a female fan, preventing football star Yahya Golmohammadi from signing with Tractor FC, until he accepted the Revolutionary Guards’ conditions, barring Shahnaz Yari from coaching Iran’s women’s clubs and national futsal teams, and now, preventing women from entering stadiums. 

On May 6, Mehr News Agency reported that Mehdi Taj, president of Iran’s Football Federation, has been receiving reactions from international football federations to the banning of female spectators from stadiums. Earlier, IranWire sources at the football federation had reported that security agencies had demanded that the head of the Football Federation control the news about the reactions of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation.

How did the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic become a playground for security agencies, and why are the Revolutionary Guards and intelligence agencies increasingly interfering in Iranian football?

Football, A Lever for Political and Social Control

In a column on “the political isolation of Russia and the humiliation of its national football,” Gabriele Marcotti, a senior writer at ESPN, notes a direct connection between the exploitation of football by the Iranian and Russian dictatorships.

The Russian national football team and its clubs have been banned from official international and European football games. However, the Russian national team has been busy preparing itself for contests. “Look closely at Russia’s choices: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan,” Marcotti writes. “They were not even allowed to play friendly games in the CONCACAF [The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football] zone. You can argue that those who accept Russia’s proposals feel empathy for and sympathy with the policies of this country.”

Marcotti, referring to the eagerness of the football federations of Russia and the Islamic Republic to maintain close relations, writes: “Imagine that the whole world has ostracized you. You would turn to others who have been ostracized as well, those who are neither part of the world’s rich and admired population nor they wish to be, like the Iranian government that for years has been under the West’s heavy sanctions.”

Citing an article about Russian football by Timm Beichelt, a German sociology professor, Marcotti concludes that in dictatorships such as Russia and Iran, football is used as an instrument of “political and social control.”

He arrives at a straightforward conclusion: Russia and similar dictatorships use football not for the benefit of their people but to control their societies. Under such governments, if football aligns with social activists, it would be stopped.

Why Is FIFA Passive?

On March 14, IranWire reported that Mahsa Ghorbani, an international referee for Iranian women’s football, had been ousted from her position during a meeting involving representatives of the Ministry of Sports, the Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organization, and the Football Federation.

During the meeting, a representative of the IRGC Intelligence slammed the table and expressed strong disapproval when he asked, “Who recommended the female referees for this match?” Daniyal Moradi, head of the referees’ department, responded, “I recommended Ghorbani and Zokkaei.”

Considering the actions taken against footballers, coaches, referees, and spectators mentioned in this report, one must ask: Where is FIFA in all this? Why has FIFA remained passive in the face of these actions?

In his report for ESPN, Gabriele Marcotti addresses this question by citing a simple example concerning Russian football. He asserts that Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, is not the final arbiter of key events in international football. “His mind is occupied by remaining FIFA’s president until 2027,” he writes. “But keep in mind that this is FIFA. It tolerates politics as much as possible unless the members choose otherwise. And if they do, who is Infantino to say ‘No’?

“When it comes to totalitarian governments, it is better to get along with them and face reality instead of pretending. International sports remain a tool, meaning that they reflect international politics and interests and this process will not change until the people decide that it is important to change it.”

What this might mean is that FIFA is unlikely to react even if the Iranian government imposes further restrictions on the presence of women in sports stadiums. However, what could prove significant is the activism of football fans in the stadiums. In other words, change could occur when the people decide it is important to alter the status quo.

We witnessed an example of this at a football match in Tehran, where hundreds of Iranian fans chanted for the removal of Palestinian flags from the pitch, shouting, “Take that Palestinian flag and shove it up your ass!”