Iranian captain Ali Karimi was one of a number of Iranian players wearing 'green bands'
Iran failed to make the Asian play offs for the world cup yesterday, news which didn’t even make the back pages here. Yet as i picked up my copy of the London Paper on the tube, there a couple of pages in to the main news was a photo of Ali Karimi from that very game. The article was about the current election turmoil taking place in Iran and the large amount of support within the country for head opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi who has called for a recount in light of his seemingly controversial defeat. The relevance to Karimi in this piece is that he along with seven other Iranian players wore green armbands (the colour of Mousavi’s political party) for the duration of the first half of the game. By the time the second half had begun, the armbands were gone, most likely at the order of a higher power, but the point had been made. The scores of people watching the game back home in Iran, possibly including self declared president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would have seen the statement these brave players had made. In a country where media coverage and access, particularly for Mousavi supporters, is now significantly limited, this public show of support from players that most Iranian’s will hold in high regard is hugely symbolic.
The actions of Karimi and his teammates once again raises the point that football can play a massive part in delivering a political message due to the sheer global popularity of the game. Knowing this FIFA have tried to prevent the use of football for political messages but their threats have proved little in the way of a deterrent. Here are some further examples of football being used to deliver a political message, both good and bad:
Egyptian playmaker Aboutrika was punished by FIFA yet lauded outside of football for his show of support for Gaza
- Egyptian playmaker Mohamed Aboutrika famously during the 2008 African Cup of Nations removed his playing shirt to reveal a message declaring ’sympathise with Gaza’. More recently Mali striker Frederic Kanoute of Sevilla also revealed a shirt supporting Palestine in the midst of recent violence. Both players were yellow carded for their actions, Kanoute was further fined by the Spanish league, but both were hailed as heroes in Gaza and Palestine and other parts of the world for their actions.
- Alternatively to the above, John Paintsil of Ghana pulled an Israeli flag from his sock in support of Israels political actions during an international game against Czech Republic. He was not punished yet heavily criticised.
- Italian Paolo Di Canio was publicly sanctioned for his symbolic facist celebration in a Rome derby between Lazio and Roma in the Italian Serie A. He was banned for a game and fined.
- George Weah, while not making his statement on the football field s such, used the popularity he had gained through his football career to run for the presidency of Liberia. Despite losing the final election his popularity was such that his endorsement of the winning candidate and establishment of an opposition party has seen Liberia make strides to leave behind its corrupt past.
Channel 4 in England has even put together a political 11 but there was no place for Aboutrika, Kanoute or Paintsil.
This list is nowhere near exhaustive so i would be interested in any other examples you know of.
