By Sourit Sanyal
The players of the Iranian men's national football team refused to sing the national anthem before their opening match of the FIFA World Cup 2022 on Monday in solidarity with the protests back home.
The 11 players could be seen staying silent when the Islamic Republic's national anthem played at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
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Death Of Mahsa Amini
The Iran men's football team flew to Qatar amid intense protests that were triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, after being taken into custody by Iran's morality police.
Iran men's football team captain had pointed put out that the situation in the country was not good. Reuters quoted him as saying on Sunday, "We have to accept the conditions in our country are not right and our people are not happy. We are here but it does not mean we should not be their voice or we should not respect them."
Amini died in September after the morality police took her into custody for not wearing her hijab properly. The Guardian had reported that Amini was travelling with her family to Tehran to visit relatives there when she was arrested over hijab rules. Hours after her arrest, her family was informed that she had been taken to the intensive-care unit of a hospital.
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Nationwide Protests
The news of Mahsa Amini's death sparked protests across Iran against the current Islamic regime that has been in power in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini.
Women of all ages and backgrounds took to the streets to burn their hijabs and cut their hair in defiance of the strict laws that they are governed by.
The protests have refused to cease even in the face of warnings from Iran's regime and have only intensified in the last couple of months.
