Iran State Media Wants US To Be Banned From World Cup

• Iran’s state media said that it wants the US out of the 2022 World Cup.
• A short version of the Iranian Flag was briefly displayed by the United States Soccer Federation.
• The edited flag was created as a sign of solidarity between protestors in Iran and the team.

Iran’s state media called for FIFA to expel the United States Soccer Federation from the World Cup after it was exposed via social media. 

In a series of tweets, Tasnim News Agency — backed by the Iranian government — wrote that the US soccer team should no longer be able to participate in the World Cup tournament for posting a “distorted image” of the country’s flag. 

—Tasnim News Agency (@Tasnimnews_EN) November 27, 2022

CNN reported that the United States Soccer Federation displayed the Iranian flag on Saturday without the emblem of Iran in its center. The Iranian Islamic Republic’s center emblem is intended to be used as a symbol.

According to Reuters, Michael Kammarman, soccer media officer, said that Sunday’s move was meant to show support for women in Iran fighting for basic rights.

CNN was told by the US State Department that they had nothing to do about the USSF’s move, but that they would continue to “find ways of supporting the Iranian people in the face state-sponsored violence against women as well as a brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors.”