No rights, no sports
It's the IRI in the World Cup, not Iran

May 5, 2006
iranian.com

The Islamic Republic of Iran was not barred from the World Cup 2006, a bonus for the Islamic regime: the German government has resisted calls to bar the IRI’s soccer team.

As long as, the U.N. Security Council has failed to agree on how to deal with Iran over the Iran resumed disputed nuclear activities, FIFA, world soccer's governing body, would neither ban Iran from this Cup nor get involved in political issues.

But German politicians and media commentators have called on Ahmadinejad to refrain from coming to the World Cup to watch Iran play. The message was apparently given to him not to come to Germany.

Ahmadinejad’s suggestion that the Holocaust was a myth was sharply denounced in Germany, which is sensitive to its Nazi past--denying the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazi is a crime in Germany punishable with up to five years prison.

Allowing Ahmadinejad in Germany would endorse the 1936 Olympic games of Germany hosted by the Nazi.

The extremist views of Ahmadinejad have provoked in Germany and abroad calling for Iran's exclusion from the Soccer World Cup. But in reality Ahmadinejad’s Islamic regime has committed much more crimes than some “extremist views”of a psychopath like Ahmadinejad whose declarations resemble those of Hitler.

An international sport boycott of the IRI must be debated over the drastic record of human rights of the IRI, not because of the Ahmadinejad’s views. Ban of apartheid in sport was a correct means for sensibilities world opinion against that anti-human regime. The same ban can principally also be decided for the similar reasons on the anti-human IRI.

Although there are some calls in Germany, demanding a ban of Iran for being a huge terrorist supporter, the German government, by chanting its virtues, has so far not taken a position on that or on the permanent violations of human rights in Iran.

Regarding many similarities between the apartheid and the IRI, the German government should expressly answer the question that what the reasons are that the IRI has not been banned from the WC and why the IRI’s crimes are unnoticed.

Whether by banning countries from taking part in international sports matches or boycotting events in antagonistic states, politicians have often used sports as a tool to make political statements and advance their own agendas. But the IRI is a totalitarian and criminal regime, therefore its participation should be an issue of the Human Rights organisations. Nobody has right  to reduce this to politician’s decisions.

The German government should have consulted the Human Rights organisations about the gravity of the IRI’s crimes that could determine the severity of punishment instead of relying on the Ahmadinejad’s views.

A few hundred Iranian football fans and reporters expected to travel to Germany from Iran for the World Cup. Among the travellers, there must be some organised and sponsored thugs of the regime to reinforce the Islamist groups of IRI’s supporters in Germany. During the IRI’s games, they will be waving anti-Iranian flag of the IRI, chanting provocative slogans, wearing T-shirt with religious stuff written on it, carrying portraits of Khomeini or Khamenei or other Islamic figures, displaying posters or placards of IRI’s propaganda and provoking other Iranian fans. Needless to mention, they are not involved in feeling of patriotism or passion of football.

The IRI’s reporters are not supposed to only focus on the games, but also, even more vigilantly, on these pro-IRI’s supporters as if they were the only Iranian fans in the stadium.

Some of the IRI’s supporters may be dangerous and might plan disturbance and violence against Iranian dissidents fans at whim. They may even try to exploit the occasion for political crimes that have been plotted by the IRI in Iran and will be coordinated by the IRI’s embassy in Germany, a centre of IRI’s terrorist and Islamist activities for Europe.

One of the typical problems of the IRI is the participation of women in such event. Female posters, female flag carriers, female referees, female staff, female artists of opening ceremony and all entertainments cannot be tolerated. The IRI’s reporters avoid photographing or televising any “immoral” scene that may show women’s participation.

The IRI and Saudi Arabia are the most ignored teams of the CUP: their plays will receive very little German football spectators and their presence draws no interest for German media. This is not because of racism (many black players can attract German fans). The above teams are spontaneously ignored because they represent the Islamist culture; especially when the Islamists are on the verge of a jihad against the rest of the world.

The fans of Iranian team in Germany will be divide into two antagonistic groups: the first group of Iranians mostly living abroad will support Iran and will show their patriotism for Iran, passion for football and attitude for Iranian identity, the second group consists of some Islamists brought from Iran or living abroad along with a handful German extreme right and anti-semitists who traditionally support the IRI.    

The IRI in its highest capacity will make the best of this gifted international forum to  advertise for its credibility. Under the guise of sport, the manipulative efforts are to show the passion of Iranians for Islam and the IRI. On the field, the Mullahs do not understand much about sport. Generally, the game has little meaning unless the players do their utmost to portray a better image of Islam.

IRI’s sport rights are based on religious and sex discriminations. The selection of national players and staff is not only based on their performance on the field, but mainly their faith in the mosques.And the requirements for an Iranian woman to practice sport cannot almost be met because of the imposed Islamic rules.

In the international level, IRI’s teams represent IRI’s ideology: the IRI’s football team in the Cup would not play opponents like Israeli or Serbian teams, if they were in the tournament. The players are themselves powerless tools, If they do not effectively go along with the IRI’s ideology, they will not be allowed to play in the national team. The IRI contaminates sport with their totalitarian ideology and therefore should be regarded by the FIFA.

The IRI’s sport policy has nothing to do with the concept of sport, it does not seek to create goodwills among the nations; sport field for them is a battlefield of ideology, Even if one did not know from concrete example of the 1936 Olympic Games that international sporting contests led to orgies of hatred, one would deduce it from the nature of the IRI.

All national players in totalitarian regimes have the same fate; they have to be the subordinated individuals to advance the ideology of the state and have to be loyal to it. It is permissible for them to play so long as all requirements are fulfilled.

The rule is the same for IRI’s football players; the IRI would ban its players from playing, if they were free about their faith. It is under these difficult conditions that they prefer to play than to be offside, they have no three choices at all. Though some Iran national players are religious, because good Muslims have any privilege, but many of them were not religious, if religion were left up to them and they were not under the microscope.

The IRI’s players are however Iranian players and should be supported by all Iranian fans. Though all Iranians support these players, most Iranians prefer a free Iran national team not under the IRI’s flag.

The future of sport contacts with IRI’s teams should be debated by the Human Rights Organisations, Iranian democratic opposition and the International Sport Federations. As expected by many conscious freedom-lovers in Iran, a ban on any sport contact with the IRI’s teams should be taken into consideration -- as it was the case in 1980 when the U.N. issued a ban on any sport contact with South Africa.

In fact sport in Iran is desegregated, as it was under the apartheid’s regime. However, the desegregation is not over race, but faith and sex; this is another  apartheid.

As long as the IRI is in power, alternative participation of Iranian teams organised abroad by dissident players should be debated.The international community should promote the Idea of expelling the IRI’s teams while letting Iranian teams from the Iranian dissident players in international competitions. Such teams, regardless their performance, have indeed significance to represent Iran.