At Gold Coast Stadium, nearly 13,000 kilometres from Tehran, Iran’s women’s national football team raised hands to their temples and most mouthed or sang along to the opening bars of “Mehr-e Khavaran (Eastern Sun)” before their match with Australia. The gesture marked a sharp contrast to the team’s silence three days earlier when their anthem played before the tournament opener against South Korea.
Observers say the change likely reflected pressure from authorities back home. Catherine Ordway, an Australian lawyer and sport integrity consultant who has worked with international sporting bodies, said the later display made clear the players “had received the message from home that they needed to demonstrate symbolic solidarity with their homeland, currently under siege.”
The scenes echoed the conduct of Iran’s men’s team at the 2022 World Cup, when they did not sing in their opener against England but mouthed words in a subsequent match. That episode took place amid domestic protests over women’s rights; the current unrest is tied to Iran’s responses to the US-Israeli conflict and the broader tensions it has provoked.
Ordway described the women’s earlier silence and moments when players loosened headscarves as “a profoundly brave form of physical dissent,” noting the particular risks women face in Iran and the regime’s history of punishing symbolic resistance.
At the Asian Cup the squad and staff have kept media contact to a minimum — appearing at mandatory press conferences and, by their direction, limiting questions to football. The strain on players was visible: 21-year-old striker Sara Didar fought back tears at a pre-match media event, telling reporters, “We’re all concerned and sad about what has happened to Iran and our families in Iran. I really hope for our country to have good news ahead. And I hope that my country will be strongly alive.”
Outside the stadium, protesters gathered before the Australia match. Some spectators waved the Lion and Sun flag used before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, while banners both supporting human rights and opposing Australia’s perceived backing of the US-Israeli actions were visible. For many Iranians, both inside and outside the country, international sport remains one of the few stages on which their struggles are visible.
But dissent carries heavy consequences. Recent high-profile cases include Sahar Khodayari, the “Blue Girl” who self-immolated in 2019 after being barred from a stadium and later died; wrestler Navid Afkari, executed in 2020 following a conviction related to protests; and Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh, who left Iran citing oppression. “The Iranian authorities use sport to enforce moral codes and suppress dissent, even for female spectators,” Ordway said. “Women athletes face additional layers of surveillance and punishment because their bodies are politicized, controlled, and heavily policed.”
On the pitch, Iran has struggled, losing 4-0 to Australia and 3-0 to South Korea, and a March 8 match with the Philippines is unlikely to alter their prospects of reaching the knockout rounds. Still, the players’ silence, salutes and mere presence at matches have taken on meaning far beyond results.
Tension around Iranian athletes may continue on the international calendar. Iran’s sole listed Paralympic athlete, Aboulfazl Khatibii Mianaei, is entered for men’s para cross-country skiing this week, and Iran’s men’s team will play at least three qualifiers in the United States for the 2026 World Cup. Ordway expects more low-key, deniable gestures from Iranian competitors and guarded comments in press settings, while overt protest is unlikely given heightened surveillance and risk. She added that members of the Iranian diaspora and international athletes are more likely to stage visible demonstrations of solidarity.