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Iranian man, 27, shot dead for celebrating team’s World Cup exit | Iran

An Iranian man was shot dead by security forces after Iran’s national team lost to the US and exited the World Cup, as anti-government demonstrations took place inside and outside the stadium in Qatar and across Iran.

Mehran Samak, 27, was shot dead after honking his car horn in Bandar Anzali, a city on the Caspian Sea coast, north-west of Tehran, according to human rights activists.

Samak “was targeted directly and shot in the head by security forces … following the defeat of the national team against America”, said the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR).

The contest between the two countries which severed diplomatic ties more than 40 years ago took place against a backdrop of violent repression in Iran after protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, in September.

Iran’s security forces have killed at least 448 people in the crackdown on the protests, including 60 children under the age of 18 and 29 women, according to IHR.

In an extraordinary twist, Iranian international midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi, who played in the US match and is from Bandar Anzali, revealed that he knew Samak and posted a picture of them together in a youth football team.

“After last night’s bitter loss, the news of your passing set fire to my heart,” said Ezatolahi on Instagram, describing Samak as a “childhood teammate”.

A screengrab of Saeid Ezatolahi’s Instagram post. Photograph: Instagram

He did not comment on the circumstances of his friend’s death but said: “Some day the masks will fall, the truth will be laid bare.”

He added: “This is not what our youth deserve. This is not what our nation deserves.”

Ezatolahi, distraught at the result, had been seen after the final whistle being comforted both by his teammates and the US players.

Many Iranians had refused to support the national team, and after the match on Tuesday night, footage on social media showed crowds cheering and setting off fireworks.

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) also reported that Samak had been killed by the security forces while celebrating. CHRI published a video from Samak’s funeral in Tehran on Wednesday at which mourners could be heard shouting “death to the dictator”. The chant, aimed at Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is one of the main slogans of the protests.

Late on Tuesday, the exiled Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad posted videos of celebrations on Twitter, writing: “Iran is a country where people are very passionate about football. Now they are out in the streets in the city of Sanandaj and celebrate the loss of their football team against the US.” She also posted a video of fireworks being let off in Saqqez, Mahsa Amini’s home town.

Iran is a country where people are very passionate about football. Now they are out in the streets in the city of Sanandaj & celebrate the loss of their football team against US.
They don’t want the government use sport to normalize its murderous regime.pic.twitter.com/EMh8mREsQn pic.twitter.com/MqpxQZqT20

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 29, 2022

Iranians also celebrated in Marivan, which was among the cities in western Iran’s Kurdish-populated regions where, on 21 November, security forces intensified a crackdown that killed a dozen people over 24 hours, directly shooting at protesters and using heavy weapons, rights groups said.

There were also celebrations in Tehran and Sanandaj, Kurdistan’s capital.

The celebrations came after fans outside the stadium in Doha sought to highlight the protests and the Iranian government’s crackdown. “Everybody should know about this. We don’t have a voice in Iran,” an Iranian living in the US, who gave his name only as Sam, told Reuters.

Speaking by phone from Tehran shortly before kick-off, Elham, 21, said she wanted the US to win because victory for the national squad, known as Team Melli, would be a gift for Iranian authorities. “This is not my national team. It is not the melli team, it is the mullahs’ team,” she said.

Iranians celebrate the loss of the Islamic Republic’s national team against the US.

A pinnacle in the history of Iran:

A country where soccer is revered and the national team was worshipped – people are celebrating being booted out of the World Cup. https://t.co/yOrBvieOQE

— Nahayat Tizhoosh (@NahayatT) November 29, 2022

Extra security personnel, some mounted on horseback, patrolled outside the Al Thumama stadium before the match, while guards at the perimeter made Iranians unfurl their flags before entering. Police were stationed throughout the stadium alongside regular security guards. Some carried batons.

Early in the second half, a group of fans briefly held up letters spelling Mahsa Amini’s name to applause from the Iranian supporters around them. Security personnel took their signs but allowed them to remain in their seats.

Under pressure to publicly support protesters at home, the Iranian team declined to sing the national anthem in their first game against England, which they lost 6-2. But they sang it before the second game, a 2-0 victory over Wales, and again on Tuesday. When Iran lost to England, there were celebrations in Tehran too.

Outside the stadium after the match, Reuters journalists saw security chase two people in a series of scuffles on the ground’s perimeter. Three guards pinned one man to the ground who was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “woman, life, freedom”, the central slogan of the Iranian protest movement.

Iranians celebrate World Cup exit to US in solidarity with protests | World Cup 2022

Some Iranians have celebrated their team’s loss to the US and subsequent exit from the World Cup, as demonstrations against the government’s treatment of protesters took place inside and outside the stadium in Qatar and across Iran.

The contest between the Iranian and American sides, whose countries severed diplomatic ties more than 40 years ago, took place under increased security to prevent a flare-up over the anti-government protests that have taken place across Iran since the death in custody of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on 16 September.

When the match was lost, the Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad posted videos of celebrations on Twitter, writing: “Iran is a country where people are very passionate about football. Now they are out in the streets in the city of Sanandaj and celebrate the loss of their football team against US.” She also posted a video of fireworks being let off in Saqqez, Mahsa Amini’s home town.

Iran is a country where people are very passionate about football. Now they are out in the streets in the city of Sanandaj & celebrate the loss of their football team against US.
They don’t want the government use sport to normalize its murderous regime.pic.twitter.com/EMh8mREsQn pic.twitter.com/MqpxQZqT20

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 29, 2022

In 2019, Iranian women were allowed to enter a football stadium for the first time in 40 years, but have been permitted to attend only a handful of national matches since, according to Al Jazeera.

“The Islamic Republic banned women from entering stadiums for 40 years and now people are chanting ‘woman, life, freedom’ to celebrate being booted out of the World Cup,” Alinejad wrote above a video from Kermanshah in western Iran.

The Islamic Republic banned women from entering stadiums for 40 years and now people are chanting “Woman, life, Freedom” to celebrate being booted out of the World Cup.
This is the city of Kermanshah.#MahsaAmini pic.twitter.com/D0sqqpVsK4

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) November 29, 2022

There were also celebrations in Tehran and Sanandaj, Kurdistan’s capital.

Iranians celebrate the loss of the Islamic Republic’s national team against the US.

A pinnacle in the history of Iran:

A country where soccer is revered and the national team was worshipped – people are celebrating being booted out of the World Cup. https://t.co/yOrBvieOQE

— Nahayat Tizhoosh (@NahayatT) November 29, 2022

Sine (Sanandaj), Kurdistan, right now. People across Iran are out celebrating the loss of Islamic Republic of Iran’s national soccer team against the United States at the World Cup tonight. They’re going home, losing the game and not really winning the heart of the people either. pic.twitter.com/1gwnh2Ebxx

— Beri Shalmashi (@BeriShalmashi) November 29, 2022

The celebrations came after fans outside the stadium in Doha sought to highlight the protests and the Iranian government’s crackdown. “Everybody should know about this. We don’t have voice in Iran,” an Iranian living in the US, who gave his name only as Sam, told Reuters.

Speaking by phone from Tehran shortly before kick-off, 21-year-old Elham said she wanted the US to win because victory for the national squad, known as Team Melli, would be a gift for Iranian authorities. “This is not my national team. It is not the Melli team, it is the mullahs’ team,” she said.

Extra security personnel, some mounted on horseback, patrolled outside the Al Thumama Stadium in Doha before the match, while guards at the perimeter made Iranians unfurl their flags before entering. Police were stationed throughout the stadium alongside regular security guards. Some carried batons.

Early in the second half, a group of fans briefly held up letters spelling Mahsa Amini’s name, to applause from Iranian supporters around them. Security personnel took their signs but allowed them to remain in their seats.

Spectators match pay tribute to Mahsa Amini. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Outside the stadium after the match, Reuters journalists saw security chase two people in a series of scuffles on the ground’s perimeter. Three guards pinned one man to the ground, who was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “woman, life, freedom”, the central slogan of the Iranian protest movement.

The man repeatedly yelled “woman, life, freedom” as guards were on top of him. A witness told Reuters the altercation began when guards attempted to remove the man’s shirt.

In the second half of the match, five members of the Russian activist punk group Pussy Riot stood in the stadium stands wearing green balaclavas and T-shirts that read “woman, life, freedom”. On the back, the shirts carried the names of people killed in Iran, along with their ages, Nika Nikulshina, a group member, told Reuters.

Members of Pussy Riot wear T-Shirts bearing the name of women killed in Iran, with their ages, during the match between Iran and United States of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in Doha. — Members of Pussy Riot during the match. Photograph: Cinema for Peace Foundation/Reuters

“It’s our gesture of support for Iranian women and we want to highlight that Iran is sending drones to Russia to kill Ukraine. We want to remind everyone that there is not only Fifa and fun, and that there’s a war going on,” she said.

Stadium security removed the balaclavas and after the match, “politely” escorted the women out of the stadium, said Nikulshina, who invaded the pitch in 2018 during the World Cup final in Moscow.

OneLove armband sends ‘very divisive message’, says Qatar official | World Cup 2022

The head of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee has accused teams who wanted to wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup of sending a “very divisive message” to the Islamic and Arab world.

Hassan al-Thawadi’s comments came as the UK sports minister Stuart Andrew said he would wear the rainbow-coloured armband at the England v Wales match on Tuesday.

The Conservative frontbencher, who is gay, said it was “really unfair” that Fifa had threatened sporting sanctions at the 11th hour against seven European teams who had planned to wear the anti-discrimination symbol in Qatar, forcing them to protest in other ways.

“I want to show support and I was delighted to see that the German minister who attended a recent match has worn it, I think it is important that I do so,” he added.

However, Thawadi – secretary general of the supreme World Cup committee for delivery and legacy – said he had an “issue” with the armband because he saw it as a protest against Islamic values and an Islamic country hosting such a major event.

“If the teams decided to do it throughout the entire season, that is one thing,” he said, when asked if he felt nervous about armbands. “But if you’re coming to make a point, or a statement in Qatar, that is something I have an issue with. And it goes back to the simple fact that this is a part of the world that has its own set of values.

“This is not Qatar I’m talking about, it’s the Arab world,” he added. “For the teams to come and preach or make statements, that’s fine. But what you’re essentially saying is you’re protesting an Islamic country hosting an event. Where does that end? Does that mean no Islamic country can never be able to participate in anything?

“There’s going to be different values and different views coming in. So, for me, if you’re going to come specifically to make a statement here in Qatar – or specifically addressed to Qatar and by extension, the Islamic world – it leaves a very divisive message.”

Same-sex relationships are illegal in Qatar and while organisers and Fifa have repeated the message that “everyone is welcome” during the World Cup, it is unclear whether laws that criminalise acts such as kissing in public have been suspended.

Fans attending matches have also had rainbow items, including T-shirts and Wales bucket hats, confiscated by officials, before Fifa later said they should be allowed in stadiums.

But Thawadi said organisers only wanted visitors to respect the culture and religion of the region. “These values are regional,” he added. “It’s for the Islamic world, it’s for the Arab world, it’s for the Middle East. There are certain things that we will not agree upon. But let us find a way of coexisting and moving forward, one way or the other. That is where mutual respect is fundamental.”

In his interview with the TalkSport UK radio station, Thawadi also defended the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, for his pre-tournament remarks in which he said he felt Qatari, Arabic, African, gay and disabled, before warning western countries that they were in no position to give morality lessons to Qatar given their past and current behaviour.

“For a lot of people in Qatar and the Arab world what he said to a large extent reflected the frustration of 13 years being presented in a certain way in the media,” said Thawadi.

“A lot of Arabs that I’ve talked to have admired what he said. It addressed the fact that people did feel that the outside world is coming and passing judgment unequivocally on our part of the world – on us as people, on the Arab world and the Middle East.”

How many migrant workers have died in Qatar? What we know about the human cost of the 2022 World Cup | World Cup 2022

The deaths of migrant workers in Qatar in the build-up to this year’s World Cup have drawn criticism across the world. While the tournament’s organizers put the official count at 40, estimates by the Guardian put the figure in the thousands. Here we explore the key questions around an issue that has tarnished the World Cup for many fans.

Why is this World Cup so controversial?

World soccer’s governing body, Fifa, awarded Qatar – a country slightly smaller than Connecticut with scant soccer pedigree – the tournament in December 2010 in a bidding process that, according to American authorities, was riddled with corruption. The shock decision sparked a frenzy of construction in the wealthy nation, which this year became the planet’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas.

The high profile of the tournament has drawn attention to Qatar’s dubious human rights record, including its hostility towards LGBT people, and the dangerous and exploitative conditions faced by the vast numbers of migrant workers who have built the infrastructure.

“Migrant workers were indispensable to making the World Cup 2022 possible, but it has come at great cost for many migrant workers and their families who not only made personal sacrifices, but also faced widespread wage theft, injuries, and thousands of unexplained deaths,” said Rothna Begum, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.

How many migrant workers are in Qatar and where do they come from?

The population of Qatar is about three million, roughly 88% of whom are foreign citizens. The migrant workforce is estimated at two million, comprising 95% of the labor force. About a million people are employed in construction and another 100,000 are domestic workers. Mostly men, a large percentage come from the Philippines and south Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

What are they building?

The first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup finals, Qatar has spent anywhere from $220bn-$300bn on infrastructure projects as it uses the globe’s biggest sporting event as a catalyst for nation-building.

At a cost of $6.5bn, Qatar has built seven new stadiums for the tournament and renovated an eighth. Other construction projects have included major upgrades to public transport and roads, and new skyscrapers, hotels and housing, as well as Lusail, a new city that will host the final.

What is the latest death toll?

The official count among workers on World Cup sites is 37 non-work related deaths and only three from work-related accidents but many believe that is a vast undercount.

The problem is that it is hard to associate a firm figure with the tournament and to assess how many deaths were preventable given the lack of available information. Fifa and the Qatari organizers have sought to distance World Cup-related construction from more general projects, though it is likely that many of these would not have been commissioned without the tournament-inspired boom. And they have been on tight deadlines to be ready for the influx of an estimated 1.2 million soccer fans.

Overall, 15,021 non-Qataris died in the country between 2010 and 2019, according to the government. A Guardian analysis in February 2021 found that more than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had died in Qatar since the award of the tournament. The death records were not categorised by occupation or place of work. The government has said that 30,000 foreign laborers were employed to build World Cup stadiums.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) found that in 2020, 50 people suffered work-related deaths, 500 were seriously injured, and 37,600 sustained mild to moderate injuries.

How are workers dying?

Average high temperatures in Qatar exceed 100F (37.7C) for five months of the year. Though the tournament was moved from summer to winter for the safety and comfort of players, officials and fans, workers are at risk of accidents, heat-related illnesses and other ailments related to the physical and mental strains of working long hours in extreme heat. Suicide is also a concern. Construction workers frequently live in squalid conditions that stand in stark contrast with the opulence of many of the facilities they build.

The Qatari government has argued that “the mortality rate among these communities is within the expected range for the size and demographics of the population.” But statistics show that a large number of young or middle-aged men from Nepal, who would have undergone health checks before being allowed to enter Qatar, have died from heart problems.

Following on from reporting by the Guardian’s Pete Pattisson, an Amnesty International report from 2021 accused Qatar of “routinely [issuing] death certificates for migrant workers without conducting adequate investigations, instead attributing deaths to ‘natural causes’ or vaguely defined cardiac failures” – making it impossible for bereaved families to claim compensation.

The organization found that as many of 70% of migrant deaths are classified imprecisely, with Guardian data suggesting that 69% of deaths among Indian, Nepali and Bangladeshi workers have been categorised as natural. The ILO report states that falls from height and road traffic accidents were the leading causes of severe injuries.

In 2021 the Guardian highlighted the deaths of workers such as Gangaram Mandal, a laborer from Nepal who came to Qatar in 2018 in order to support his wife and seven daughters. He borrowed money to pay a recruitment fee then earned the equivalent of a dollar a day. After two years he fell ill at the end of a shift during the summer. His death was classed as “heart failure, natural causes”.

What have the Qatari authorities done?

The country has introduced labor law reforms in the past five years, though critics charge that these do not go far enough to protect workers and that enforcement is patchy. “Thousands of workers across all projects are still facing issues such as delayed or unpaid wages, denial of rest days, unsafe working conditions, barriers to changing jobs, and limited access to justice, while the deaths of thousands of workers remain uninvestigated,” according to Amnesty. A minimum wage for all workers equivalent to about $275 a month came into force in 2021.

What have the soccer authorities said?

Teams such as Denmark and the Netherlands have been far more vocal in their criticism of working conditions and human rights than Fifa, which has banned players from wearing “OneLove” rainbow armbands. Shortly before the tournament the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, urged teams to “focus on the football”.

Infantino later claimed Fifa deserved credit for influencing Qatar to improve standards, including abolishing its abusive “kafala” worker sponsorship system, and said that criticism of the country reeked of Western hypocrisy.

Concerns about LGBT rights, forced labor and unsafe conditions also marred the previous World Cup, in Russia in 2018. A report by the Building and Wood Workers’ International union group found that 21 construction workers died building stadiums in Russia, mostly as a result of falls from heights or being struck by falling equipment.

The World Cup tension the west is not seeing: Israelis told to keep low profile | World Cup 2022

One video shows an Egyptian football fan smiling serenely as an Israeli broadcaster introduces him live on air. Then he leans into the microphone with a message: “Viva Palestine.”

Another clip from the streets of Doha this week shows a group of Lebanese men walking away from a live interview with a reporter they have just learned is Israeli. One shouts over his shoulder: “There is no Israel. It’s Palestine.”

As hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have poured into Qatar this week for the World Cup, these are among the awkward encounters between Arab football fans and Israeli journalists that have gone viral on Middle Eastern social media, one of many sources of political friction at a tournament that has not yet shaken off its myriad controversies.

For the host country, staging the World Cup has involved delicate negotiations over the presence of LGBTQ+ fans, public displays of affection and the availability of beer and wine. Less prominent in the west, but no less fraught, has been the emirate’s accommodation of Israeli football fans and media, a concession to Fifa’s rules for hosting the multibillion-dollar tournament.

Qatar does not have official ties with Israel but has given special permission for direct flights from Tel Aviv and allowed Israeli diplomats to be stationed at a travel agency in the country to give their nationals consular support. Conscious of domestic opinion, however, it has insisted the measures are strictly temporary and not steps towards a normalisation agreement of the kind signed by several other Arab states in recent years.

Though neither Israel nor Palestine are playing in the tournament, the latter has featured prominently at the Middle East’s first World Cup. Before Sunday’s opening match, a phalanx of Qatari men marched into the Al Bayt Stadium chanting, “Everyone is welcome,” carrying with them a large Palestinian flag. “We are taking care of people in Palestine, and all Muslim people and Arab countries are holding up Palestinian flags because we’re for them,” the flag bearer told the Guardian.

Flight screens at Tel Aviv airport. Qatar has given special permission for direct flights. — Flight screens at Tel Aviv airport. Qatar has given special permission for direct flights to and from Israel. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Fans from Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Algeria have also carried Palestinian flags prominently at matches and worn them as capes around their necks. On Thursday, Randa Ahmer, a young Palestinian woman, stood in Doha’s bustling Souq Waqif holding a Palestinian flag above the international crowd. “It’s our country, we’re going to carry our flag everywhere,” she said, as passersby shouted messages of support.

Fifa trumpeted its agreement with Qatar to allow Israelis to fly to Doha by claiming the deal also allowed Palestinians to make the journey from Tel Aviv, but nearly a week into the tournament, it was unclear how many had been able to surmount the extensive Israeli security checks required to make the journey. Some of those who had made it to Qatar had come via Jordan or Egypt.

As of the beginning of the tournament, nearly 4,000 Israeli and 8,000 Palestinian fans had received entry visas to Qatar, though Israel’s foreign minister said it was expected as many as 20,000 Israelis could ultimately end up going.

A kosher kitchen has been set up near Doha’s airport to provide Israeli fans with a place to gather and food that conforms with religious requirements.

Preparing to arrive in Doha over the weekend, Duby Nevo, an Israeli national, said he was watching the reports of Palestinian activism at the tournament with some concern. “I hope that Qataris are welcoming and everything will be fine,” he said. “I really hope to meet people from all over the world and especially from Arabic countries – if they want to make friends. I just want to enjoy [the football], no conflicts whatsoever.”

Another Israeli man, who gave only his first name Bahaa, said the organisation of the tournament and atmosphere in the country were excellent, but there was one drawback: “The majority of the masses here do not accept the presence of Israelis.”

Others said they were finding a welcoming environment, but taking precautions. “We’re not afraid to be here in Qatar as Israelis, they are very kind and we don’t feel the politics between the countries,” said Omer Laufer. “Sometimes we say that we are from Cyprus – but just to people from Arab countries.”

As the viral videos have shown, it is Israeli media outlets that have borne the brunt of the lingering antipathy with which their country is regarded by Arab populations, even if many of their governments have now signed agreements acknowledging Israeli sovereignty, started building trade ties and brought their security cooperation out into the open.

Israel’s Channel 13 sports reporter Tal Shorrer told Associated Press that while his interactions with Qatari officials had been pleasant, he had been shoved and insulted by Palestinians and other Arab fans during his live broadcasts from the city.

When a mobile phone seller noticed his friend’s settings in Hebrew, Shorrer said the man exploded with anger, screaming at the Israeli to get out of the country.

“I was so excited to come in with an Israeli passport, thinking it was going to be something positive,” he said. “It’s sad, it’s unpleasant. People were cursing and threatening us.”

On Friday, a reporter from Israel’s public broadcaster Kan had a more enjoyable brush with fans, mobbed by jubilant Iranian supporters celebrating their 2-0 victory over Wales, who dressed him a jester’s hat in the national colours while anchors back in the studio watched on, laughing.

Aware of the sensitivities of a tournament that will attract thousands of arrivals from hostile countries such as Iran, and where unlike in previous tournaments, all of the estimated 1.2 million foreign fans will be living cheek-by-jowl in one city, Israeli diplomats have produced videos asking their nationals to keep a low profile.

“Downplay your Israeli presence and Israeli identity for the sake of your personal security,” said Lior Haiat, an Israeli diplomat, addressing fans.

Top Iran footballer arrested at club for ‘spreading propaganda against the state’ | Iran

Iranian security forces on Thursday arrested one of the country’s most famous footballers, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic and seeking to undermine the national World Cup team.

Voria Ghafouri, a former member of the national football team and once a captain of the Tehran club Esteghlal, has been outspoken in his defence of Iranian Kurds, telling the government on social media to stop killing Kurdish people. He has previously been detained for criticising the former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.

Iran are due to play Wales on Friday. The Iranian team has already been embroiled in controversy after failing to sing the national anthem before its game against England, and Ghafouri’s arrest is likely to be seen as a warning to the players not to repeat their protests.

He was detained after a training session with his club, Foolad Khuzestan, on charges of having “tarnished the reputation of the national team and spread propaganda against the state”, the Fars new agency said.

Other agencies said he was being charged with “insulting and intending to destroy the national football team and speaking against the regime”.

Ministers in recent days have accused Ghafouri of being a Kurdish separatist, but he replied that he would give his life for Iran. Earlier this year, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said: “Some people, who benefit from the country’s peace and security, enjoying their jobs and their favourite sports, bite the hand that feeds them,” a reference many thought was to Ghafouri.

The footballer, 35, was a member of Iran’s 2018 World Cup squad, but was surprisingly not named in the final lineup for this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

Originally from the Kurdish-populated city of Sanandaj in western Iran, Ghafouri had posted a photo on Instagram of himself in traditional Kurdish dress in the mountains of Kurdistan, but is a cult hero beyond Iran’s north-west. Sanandaj endured some of the most violent crackdowns in the protests that followed the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, and Ghafouri had visited some of those injured in the protests in Mahabad.

In 2019, he distributed blue jerseys in honour of Sahar Khodayari, a woman who self-immolated after being sentenced to prison for attempting to watch an Esteghlal match at Azadi stadium. After another incident of violence against female football fans in 2021, Ghafouri wrote on Instagram: “As a soccer player, I’ve indeed become humiliated when I play in an era when our mothers and sisters are prohibited from entering stadiums.”

Many fans suggested his career at Esteghlal, a championship winning team, was cut short in June as punishment for speaking out. Others argued that in his mid-30s, Ghafouri was too old for the Iranian top flight.

He recently tweeted: “Stop killing Kurdish people!!! Kurds are Iran itself … Killing Kurds is equal to killing Iran. If you are indifferent to the killing of people, you are not an Iranian and you are not even a human being … All tribes are from Iran. Do not kill people!!!”

Inside Qatar’s ‘other’ fan zone: a night watching football with Qatar’s migrant workers | World Cup 2022

It has the big screen, the pumping music and the Fifa branding, but this is a fan zone with a difference. There are no visiting supporters, no women, no team colours and certainly no beer. The clue is in the venue: a cricket stadium on the edge of Doha. Inside, thousands of mostly south Asian low-wage labourers, fill the stands or sit cross-legged on the grassy outfield.

It is a world away from the polished face of Doha that most fans will see. The stadium fan zone is within Asian Town, a shopping and entertainment complex purpose-built for Qatar’s migrant workers about 30 minutes by car from the city centre. A vast expanse of warehouses, workshops and accommodation blocks stretches out for miles on one side, housing hundreds of thousands of workers, often in grim, crowded dorms.

On a wall near the entrance to the fan zone, a banner in Arabic, English and Hindi reads: “Thanks for your contributions for delivering the best Fifa World Cup ever.”

Visitors to the fan zone for migrant workers in Doha, Qatar during an evening event. — The entrance to the fan zone for migrant workers in Doha, Qatar. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

Many here probably played a part in building the stadiums and infrastructure for the tournament, but gratitude has its limits. While some match tickets went on sale for Qatar residents for just 40 rials (£9), no one the Guardian spoke to had managed to get one. Any that were available were far too expensive for workers who earn as little as £225 a month.

Without a match ticket, they are unable to register for a Hayya card, which is needed to enter the main fan zones in Doha. Even if they could, the efficient and cheap Metro does not reach this part of the city, forcing workers to take more costly alternatives.

The fan zone, and Asian Town itself, highlight the parallel lives that many migrant workers inhabit. Critics say it entrenches divisions, the unspoken message being: you can have your restaurants, shops and fan zone, as long as you don’t come to ours.

In the migrant worker fan zone in Doha, Qatar, people watch the Spain v Costa Rica match at night on a big screen. — People watch the Spain v Costa Rica match in the migrant worker fan zone. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

As the match between Spain and Costa Rica kicks off, Dilip Kumar Mandal from Nepal looks thrilled. “I come every night. I like the environment,” he says. Asked which team he is supporting, he pauses and says, “The red one.”

“I’d like to be in a stadium, but I have no money. Whatever I earn, I have to send home for my children’s education,” he adds.

Mandal, a mason, is just happy to be there. Before the World Cup began, 350 of his workmates were ordered home, as his company, like many others, wound down its work on instructions from the government.

As Spain score their first goal, he punches the air. “Yes! I knew they’d score,” he says, his face glowing red in the light of the giant screen.

Sitting nearby, Stephen* from Ghana works at the airport, transferring inflight meals to the planes. It’s his day off, but during the week, “All I do is work, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep,” he says. Like Dilip, he could not afford a match ticket, but unlike him, he speaks about football as fluently as the Spanish play it. As another goal slides in, he enthuses about Ghana’s chances: “I just hope I can get off work to watch them,” he says.

As half-time approaches, hundreds surge towards the stage, and are soon rewarded, not by another goal, but by an MC and her four female dancers. She gives a shoutout to, “My African friends”, before reeling off the other countries that make up the bulk of Qatar’s migrant workforce: India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Close up images of visitors to the migrant workers fan zone on the edge of Doha, Qatar, during an evening World Cup match. — Some workers are happy to be in Qatar for the World Cup having seen workmates sent home pre-tournament as firms wound down their operations. Photograph: Pete Pattisson

There are no team colours or flags on display. With the exception of Ghana, none of these nations qualified for the World Cup and so decisions about who to support appear to be determined by a favourite player or the colour of a shirt.

In the stands, Mohammed Malik from Bangladesh says he comes to watch the matches every day. He has nothing better to do. “My company stopped sending us to work because we can’t access our worksite during the World Cup. They’ve stopped paying us too,” says the 42-year-old carpenter.

Yam Kumar Rajbanshi, a forklift operator, is another regular in the fan zone. “I come every night. I love football more than cricket. Brazil will win,” he says confidently. Rajbanshi, from Nepal, said a ticket for a match cost too much – half his monthly salary – but he did not seem to care. “It’s better to watch here!”

Migrant workers watch Qatar v Ecuador on a big screen from the cricket ground fan zone on the edge of Doha. — Migrant workers watch Qatar v Ecuador from the cricket ground fan zone on the edge of Doha. Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters

As Spain stroll to a 7-0 win, the workers who helped make it possible, saunter back to their dorms, a band of south Indian drummers sending them on their way.

* name changed to protect the individual’s identity

Fears grow Iran players may face reprisals for not singing national anthem | Iran

Iran’s footballers could face reprisals if they fail to sing the national anthem in their remaining World Cup group games, after a politician said the country “will never allow anyone to insult our anthem”.

The football team stayed silent while the anthem was played before their 6-2 defeat to England on Monday, in a symbolic show of support for the protest movement that has roiled Iran since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.

Team Melli, as the national team is known, had previously drawn criticism from protesters for even competing in Qatar, and footage of them bowing in front of President Ebrahim Raisi at a send-off meeting drew more anger.

On Tuesday, Mehdi Chamran, the chairman of Tehran city council, said: “We will never allow anyone to insult our anthem and flag. Iranian civilisation has a history of several thousand years, this civilisation is as old as the total of European and American civilisations.”

A conservative MP in Kurdistan, meanwhile, called for the national team to be replaced by faithful and revolutionary youth willing to sing their national anthem.

Iran’s heavily censored media made very little mention of the team not singing the national anthem.

Kayhan, probably the newspaper closest to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, vented its fury at the way in which protesters had cheered an English victory, saying “for weeks foreign media had conducted ruthless and unprecedented psychological-media war against this team”.

“This campaign did not spare any effort to create a gap between the people of Iran and the members of the Iranian national football team, as well as producing false dichotomies,” it said, adding that “this political-media movement, mainly Londoners, with the support and coordination of local patriots, from movie and sports celebrities to chain media and Telegram channels, and even reformist political figures, have joined hands to attack the players”.

It said the Portuguese-born head coach, Carlos Queiroz, had accused critics at the post-match press conference of trying to destroy the team’s morale. “I have to tell those who do not want to support the national team that it is better to stay at home, no one needs them,” it reported him as saying.

The revolt against the national team was demonstrated with videos showing crowds on the streets hailing the England victory and chanting “Death to the dictator” during the match. A restaurant in Tehran that had backed England on its Instagram page was shut and sealed by the authorities on Tuesday.

In an interview with the reformist newspaper Etemaad, Ali Latifi, a former Iranian national team striker, said the team had fallen between two stools, neither saying they only wanted to discuss football nor wholeheartedly supporting the protests, and as a result had satisfied no one. “When some spectators boo, the team suffers,” he said. “Even though it was not broadcast on the radio, the players hear it and it affects their mood.” He also blamed negative coaching tactics that he said had instilled fear in the players.

In late September, the team opted to wear black jackets to cover the country’s colours in their friendly against Senegal.

Inside Iran, the cycle of protests, repression, funerals, internet shutdowns and strikes have continued. The most intense protests are currently in Iranian Kurdistan, where the human rights group Hengaw reported that seven people had been killed since Sunday in Javanroud alone and that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had started using heavy military armoury and live ammunition to quell the protests.

Thousands of Kurds on Tuesday attended the funeral of a 16-year-old-boy, Karwan Shukri, killed the previous night in Piranshahr.

Several dead in Iran as months-long protests intensify – video

Heavy censorship of the Iranian media was illustrated this week by the authorities closing Jahan Sanat newspaper after it published an interview in which a famous former university professor questioned the official line that 10-year-old Kian Pirfalak, shot in the chest while in a car in Izeh in the east of the oil-rich Khuzestan province, was killed last week by “terrorists”, and not by the security forces.

The newspaper’s manager and the journalist responsible for the piece were summoned by the Tehran prosecutor’s office. They are among a wide group of people including actors and reformist politicians who have been summoned to explain recent remarks suggesting the government had not been telling the truth.

Kian’s mother initially blamed the security forces for his death, but later retracted the comments in what appeared to have been a forced TV appearance. The boy’s father remains in hospital with serious gunshot wounds.

Iran players stay silent for anthem in apparent support for protests | Iran

Not a single member of the Iranian team sang their country’s national anthem at the start of their World Cup match with England, in an attempt to distance themselves from their government.

One official on the touchline sang, only serving to highlight his isolation, but there was heavy booing of the anthem by the large Iranian crowd inside the stadium.

Some of the spectators held placards saying “Women, life and freedom”. Others chanted the name of Ali Karimi, the Iranian former player and coach who has become an outspoken supporter of the protests and who on Saturday called for Iranians to take to the streets over the way in which the army had poured into the Iranian Kurdish town of Mahabad.

The silence of the team during the anthem was openly reported in reformist Iranian press, which described the first-half performance of the team as a humiliation. The pro-government Fars news agency made no mention of the protest in extensive coverage of the game, which Iran lost 6-2.

There was some suggestion that Qatari TV directors cut away from the line of Iranian footballers as they refused to sign the anthem. Schools had been closed to allow Iranians watch the game on TV.

The match came as security forces were firing at protesters in the predominantly Kurdish cities of Piranshahr in the province of West Azerbaijan, and Javanrud, in Kermanshah. Photos showed bodies on the streets, with reports of dozens injured. Across the cities in Iranian Kurdistan, fires were lit and chants of death to the dictator were heard.

There have been reports of 11 people killed in nearby Mahabad over Saturday and Sunday, with heavy military equipment including armoured vehicles patrolling the streets and firing into buildings in what was described as a form of martial law.

Human rights groups say more than 450 people have died since protests started after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing the hijab in conformity with Iranian law. As many as 55 security force members have been killed.

The anthem protest may yet have repercussions for the players when they return to Iran, but Carlos Queiroz, their Portuguese manager, had said the players were free to make a protest.

In an interview before the game, Ehsan Hajsafi, the Iranian captain, opened his remarks by saying “in the name of the god of rainbows”, a phrase uttered by a 10-year-old boy, Kian Pirfalk, who was killed by Iranian security forces.

Hajsafi said he was standing by the Iranian people and offered condolences to the grieving families in Iran.

The Bayer Leverkusen forward Sardar Azmoun wrote on Instagram: “At worst I’ll be kicked out of the national team, which is a small price to pay for even a single strand of Iranian women’s hair. Shame on you for killing the people.”

Posters of the team have been torn down in parts of Tehran. Video showed that after England’s third goal against the Iranian team, the residents of Kohsar region in Tehran cheered and chanted the slogan “Death to the dictator”.

The protests show the extent to which Iran’s sporting stars and celebrities are refusing to back the heavy-handed repression being meted out by the security forces.

Over the weekend, authorities arrested two prominent actors who had expressed solidarity with the country’s protest movement and removed their headscarves in public, according to state media.

Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were detained after being summoned by prosecutors looking into their “provocative” social media posts, Iran’s state-run Irna news agency said.

On Saturday, Ghaziani published a video on Instagram of her removing the hijab. “Maybe this will be my last post,” she wrote. “From this moment on, whatever happens to me, know that as always, I am with the Iranian people until my last breath.”

Iranian sports stars ranging from wrestlers to archers and rock climbers have mounted protests at various international sporting events, including refusing to wear the hijab. One of Iran’s most prominent football commentators, Farhad Fakhrbakhsh, quit.

At the weekend, the head of the boxing federation, Hossein Souri, and two youth team boxers failed to return to Iran with their team, instead seeking political asylum, prompting the conservative newspaper Kayhan to demand the authorities take greater care in vetting senior officials in sports federations.

‘We are all Mahsa’: Iranians in Doha for World Cup voice anger at regime | Iran

Hundreds of Iranian fans arrived at Doha’s Khalifah stadium on Monday with a secret: they wanted their national team to lose.

“In my heart, I don’t want them to win,” said Mokhtar, 59, wincing visibly at the admission. The propaganda value of defeating Iran’s former colonial master, England, would simply be too irresistible for the country’s embattled rulers, he said.

“The players would go home and meet the president, they would be celebrated by the mullahs,” he said.

The Iranian colours painted on his face were starting to crack in the afternoon sun. “I still hope they score a lot of goals,” he said. “But then lose.”

For many Iranians, everything now is about the popular uprising that has been roiling their country for the past two months and left hundreds of protesters dead, including dozens of children. The country’s World Cup campaign in Qatar is not immune.

The squad flew to Doha last week under a cloud of popular criticism after meeting the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, with some players pictured bowing to the hardliner.

As Iran’s national anthem was played before kick-off, fans sounded their horns in defiance and loud boos echoed throughout the stadium.

“Many say this isn’t our national team,” said Ali, 42 from Qom. His Iranian national team shirt was splattered with what appeared to be an illustration of several bullet holes, with a bloody handprint on the back.

A football shirt worn by a man called Ali with an illustration of bullet holes on the front. Photograph: Michael Safi/The Guardian

“I think they were forced [to meet the president]. If the players don’t sing the national anthem today, maybe people will forgive them.”

He had struggled with the decision to fly to Qatar for the match, but ultimately decided it was his obligation. “I don’t think the players should be out there alone on the pitch.”

As he saw it, there was no good outcome from Monday’s match, he said. “If this team wins, the Islamic republic will say it’s our win, and if they lose, people will be unhappy.”

Signs of the uprising were everywhere outside the stadium. The largest cluster of Iranian fans danced with the lion-and-sun flag of the country’s pre-revolutionary government. Dozens lined up for photos with the ensign, banned in the country since 1979.

One English fan watched on, a little bemused, applying sunscreen to his face. “I haven’t been following it in granular detail, to be honest,” he said.

The Iranian football legend Ali Karimi has not played a match in eight years, but outside Khalifa Stadium on Monday afternoon, hundreds wore his name on the back of their team shirts.

Karimi has been one of Iran’s most outspoken public figures condemning the treatment of Mahsa Amini, the 21-year-old woman who was arrested by the country’s morality police and died in hospital days later, the trigger for the nationwide protests that are now in their third month.

The former Iranian national captain, who lives in Dubai, has been charged with national security crimes in absentia.

Sitting in the shade at the boundary of the stadium, two young women in Iran shirts were using markers to carefully spell out “freedom” in their palm of their hands. “We hope for victory for the other team, because this team is not representative,” one said.

She was from Shiraz and had reserved her tickets and booked flights before the uprising had started. “These aren’t good days for Iran, and this team doesn’t support us,” she said.

She gave her name, then after a few seconds reconsidered. “It’s not safe,” she said. “Call us both Mahsa. We are all Mahsa Amini.”

Another trio wore sunglasses painted in the Iranian colours and bright red shirts, each emblazoned with a single word of the phrase “Women, life and liberty, which has become the uprising’s main slogan.

“The Ukrainian football team, they support their people,” said Ehsan, from Tehran. “But our team doesn’t. We aren’t motivated to be in Qatar, but this is our duty. Honestly? I support England.”

If there were any supporters of the Iranian regime among the crowds, he added, none had approached him to make it known. “They keep quiet. Over there they have the power,” he said. “Outside Iran, we are the majority.”