“Goal of the #OpIran campaign”
Anonymous threatens FIFA over Iran
10/26/2022, 10:50 am
Hacker collective Anonymous is calling on FIFA to punish Iran for suspected drone support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. With its claim, the group is in a prominent position.
The hacker group Anonymous is demanding that FIFA exclude Iran from the World Cup in Qatar – otherwise the world association will become “the target of the #OpIran campaign”. In a video message, the group wants to see Iran replaced by the Ukrainian team because Russia allegedly used Iranian drones in its war against Kyiv. “While the Iranian leadership will enjoy watching their national team play the World Cup, the Ukrainians will be killed by Iranian drones and Iranian missiles,” writes Anonymous.
The Iranian people “continue to be persecuted, women, men and children fighting for their freedoms continue to be imprisoned and killed by the Islamic Republic regime while the leaders of their team look on at the 2022 World Cup. The blood of the innocent will continue to flow, while the game goes on for the bloodthirsty killers.”
Ukraine should move up
The president of the Ukrainian Champions League club Shakhtar Donetsk recently made a similar, partly identical appeal to FIFA. “We call on FIFA and the entire international community to immediately ban the Iranian national team from playing in the World Cup due to the country’s direct involvement in terrorist attacks against Ukrainians,” Sergei Palkin wrote on Twitter. Palkin also called on FIFA to transfer the starting place that would become vacant as a result of Iran’s exclusion to Ukraine. The national team of the country attacked by Russia lost 1-0 to Wales in the final of the playoffs and thus missed out on qualifying for the World Cup.
Earlier, a group of Iranian athletes called on FIFA to exclude Iran. The reason given by the group was the suppression of women’s protests in Iran and a brutal crackdown on demonstrators. The situation of women in Iran is unacceptable, even in football they are not safe from repression, it said in a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino. The letter was delivered to the FIFA boss by Spanish lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo.
“Operation World Cup is activated”
Women are still often denied access to Iranian stadiums. Iran’s football association follows government guidelines and is therefore not to be seen as an independent organization, as required by FIFA. As in similar cases in other countries, the world association must therefore suspend Iran, the letter said. “It is time for FIFA to act: enough is enough,” the letter ends. “The arguments are based on the FIFA Statutes themselves and the recognition and protection of human rights by the FIFA entity itself,” said lawyer de Dios Crespo. There was no official statement from FIFA.
The women’s rights movement “Open Stadiums” and the “United for Navid” campaign had also campaigned for an Iranian World Cup exit. The group “United for Navid” consists primarily of Iranian exile athletes who were founded after the death of Navid Afkari. The wrestler, who is very popular in Iran, was executed after a show trial in autumn 2020 despite international protests.
Since the outbreak of the nationwide demonstrations against compulsory headscarves, several prominent athletes – including former football pros Ali Daei, Ali Karimi and Mehdi Mahdavikia – have criticized the system for the suppression of women’s protests and announced their solidarity with the demonstrators. “You have the choice: immediately exclude the Iranian team from the 2022 World Cup or wait for us,” Anonymous concludes his message. “We declare Operation World Cup activated.”