The elimination of Brazil from the World Cup was met with expressions of joy and sarcasm by some members of Iran’s opposition movement. They used the occasion to poke fun at Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki, who had said earlier this week that the United States, France, and England were eliminated from the World Cup for imposing sanctions on Iran over its sensitive nuclear activities.
“In this World Cup, you see a meaningful correlation between politics and diplomacy and football,” Mottaki was quoted as saying by “Tehran Emrouz” newspaper.
”Those who played a key role in new sanctions against Iran, such as America, England, and France, were eliminated in the early stages,” he said. “And some countries that were somehow involved in sanctions did not get into higher rounds.”
In reaction to Motaki’s comments, blogger “kelk” wrote:
Since the U.S. and England were eliminated because of their vote in support of sanctions, then Brazil, the most glorious of the football teams, was eliminated because of its vote against the sanctions, right!
