The Iranian national football team will play its final group stage match of the World Cup this Friday in Seattle at Lumen Field. Under restrictions that have remained in place despite an interim ceasefire agreement, Iran’s players and coaching staff are permitted to enter the United States only one day before each match and must return to their base in Tijuana, Mexico, on the same night the game ends. The Football Federation of Iran has filed a formal complaint with FIFA, calling the arrangement a competitive disadvantage, but the United States has refused to ease those restrictions.
The fans, meanwhile, have been navigating additional turbulence of their own.
Both of Iran’s first two matches were played in Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian diaspora community in North America. Thousands of Iranian American fans came waving the pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag: the green, white, and red tricolor bearing a golden lion that served as Iran’s national symbol for centuries until the 1979 Islamic Revolution replaced it with the emblem of the current Islamic Republic. For many, the Lion and Sun represents resistance to the regime in Tehran.
Before the tournament began, however, FIFA classified the Lion and Sun as a “political” symbol under its Stadium Code of Conduct, which bars items deemed political, offensive, or discriminatory. The decision effectively aligned with Tehran’s preferences: the Iranian government has long treated the Lion and Sun as a symbol of the deposed monarchy and a provocation against the Islamic Republic. This decision came to the surprise of many, as FIFA had enforced no comparable restrictions on similar diaspora symbols at past tournaments.
The ban did not hold in practice. At both the New Zealand and Belgium matches, Iranian fans flooded SoFi Stadium with Lion and Sun flags in defiance of the prohibition. When the Islamic Republic’s national anthem played, a wave of boos erupted across the stands. FIFA officials and security personnel confiscated flags and threatened ejections, but enforcement proved difficult in a venue packed with Iranian Americans who had spent months planning to attend these games.
Outside SoFi Stadium, fans with these pre-revolutionary flags engaged with others waving Islamic Republic flags. Verbal altercations broke out before and after both games. After the Belgium match on June 21, an AP reporter observed a fan being loaded into an ambulance following a scuffle.
A legal challenge attempted to quash the rule before it could be enforced. On June 10 and 11, the Institute for Voices of Liberty, a California nonprofit, and plaintiff Sam Kermanian filed suit against FIFA in Los Angeles County Superior Court, arguing that the ban amounted to viewpoint discrimination and that California’s state constitution extends free speech protections in certain private spaces that function as public forums. An emergency hearing was held on June 15, just hours before Iran’s opening match against New Zealand.
They lost. Judge Curtis A. Kin upheld FIFA’s ban, ruling that free speech “is not without limitation, such as private actor, on private property,” and noting potential harm to stadium staff tasked with managing safety protocols. The decision closed the legal route to bringing the flag inside venues for the remainder of the tournament.
Iran’s next game in Seattle also involves unique issues. The city of Seattle has publicly opposed FIFA’s flag ban ahead of Friday’s match, a position that puts the city at odds with the governing body just days before kickoff. Also, Friday’s match falls during Seattle Pride week, and the city’s annual parade passes directly outside the stadium. This is of concern to many, as Iran executes gay men on sodomy charges. Egypt prosecutes LGBTQ expression under vague indecency laws. Both countries complained to FIFA in December to have Pride activities canceled around their match. FIFA declined, confirming that it treats the rainbow flag as a human rights symbol and will allow it inside Lumen Field.
FIFA has spent weeks trying to hold the line between sport and politics, banning one flag while permitting another, absorbing complaints from fans, two governments, and the city hosting the match. If there is one thing FIFA has demonstrated across these past weeks, it is a rare and unmatched talent: the ability to make enemies of everyone at once.
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