Defeat to England wasn’t necessarily at the forefront of every Iranian fan’s mind in Finchley when their side were beaten 6-2 in their opening World Cup group game on Monday.
Instead, the domestic politics of the country thousands of miles away left many in the north London community, home to a large Iranian diaspora, torn by ongoing national revolt and government repression.
While some fans cheered in England in a show of protest, others proudly supported their country but not the Islamic Republic government. For many, the player’s silence during the national anthem did not go unnoticed.
Fans watch the Iran-England match at the King of Prussia pub in Finchley, where many members of London’s Iranian community live. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian
Saheil Ghaffari, 33, admitted he had a “little guilty conscience” about supporting the team during the national uprising, but said the player’s decision not to sing his country’s national anthem was a sign of solidarity with the Iranian people.
“I think the result is a clear reflection on the kind of political dilemma they’re all in,” said Ghaffari, who was born in Iran. “In the Iranian political environment it is very difficult to have an opinion, so I understand that they are very limited in what they can say.”
The party comes two months after anti-government protests first erupted in Iran, spurred by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody after being accused of breaking a law requiring women to cover up none for women
Since then, protests have swept across the country, demanding an end to the clerical leadership that has led to a violent crackdown, with hundreds of protesters killed and thousands arrested.
Others, however, were not so sympathetic to the players against the backdrop of the protests.
Moo B outside Joiner’s Pub. “I didn’t support Iran because they are for the terrorist government,” he says. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian
“I didn’t support Iran because they support the terrorist government,” said Moo B, 38, who was born in Tehran and has taken part in recent anti-government protests in London. Every day, he cries out “for the Iranian dissidents,” added Moo, who supported England in Monday’s game.
Next to him in the pub packed with fans of both teams was 21-year-old Alex Denle, who before the game was not attuned to the politics surrounding Iran.
“But from what I understand, there are a lot of problems in the government of Iran. Many of the fans here support England instead of Iran,” he added.
At halftime, with Iran 3-0 up, Sam B, 24, who asked that his last name not be shared, expressed mixed feelings: wanting to see the team lose because of the political situation while sensing a victory. lift people’s spirits.
“But to be honest, even if England win, apparently, I’ll still be happy,” he added. It has been 18 years since Sam returned to Iran, where he was born. In one word, he summed up the situation at home, bluntly, as “shit”.
“It’s not nice to see what happens to people. I don’t necessarily need to be there to understand what they’re going through,” he said.
Mehdi, 54, was equally conflicted. “We are all confused, we want Iran to win, but because of the situation in Iran, we don’t know,” he said.
“We want them to be the voice of the people, but we don’t see much,” Mehdi said, adding that he would have liked the players to take a bolder stance. “Even now there are so many demonstrations, uprisings, killings of the government towards the people.”
Mehdi, who asked not to share his last name, was born in Tehran and now lives in central Finchley. In support of the movement, he has also attended protests in London.
“There are so many questions that we want the government to answer, we are always disappointed. We just do our best to maybe be another voice, but we’re 100 percent sure they don’t listen to us because of their fanatical religious beliefs,” he said. “But we try.”
Shervin, 24, has been watching Iran play since he was a child. “Obviously I understand everything that’s going on,” he said before entering the pub in his Iran shirt ahead of kick-off.
“But you know,” he said, of the decision to support England: “I’ve been waiting for this tournament for years.”