Captain Ehsan Hajsafi first Iran player to back anti-government protests
Captain Ehsan Hajsafi has become the first member of the Iran national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup to publicly voice his sympathies to the violent anti-government protests that are taking place in the West Asian country.
Hajsafi, who plays for Greek outfit AEK Athens, was speaking ahead of Team Melli’s World Cup Group B opener against England at the Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan on Monday.
“Before anything, I would like to express my condolences to all bereaved families in Iran,” said the 32-year-old who is representing the country in his third World Cup.
“They should know that we are with them. And we support them. And we sympathise with them regarding the conditions,” Hajsafi said.
Iran has seen protests erupt across the country following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody for allegedly not complying with the Islamic republic’s strict hijab regulations.
احسان حاج‌صفی، کاپیتان تیم ملی فوتبال ایران، در نخستین کنفرانس خبری تیم ایران در جام جهانی ۲۰۲۲ قطر، سخنان خود را با کلمات «به نام خدای رنگین کمان» آغاز کرد و پس از تسلیت به «همه خانواده‌های داغدار ایران» گفت بازیکنان تیم ملی با خانواده‌های داغدار همدرد و در کنارشان هستند. pic.twitter.com/z9ATipUNlg
— BBC NEWS فارسی (@bbcpersian) November 20, 2022
According to reports, at least 378 people including 43 minors have died since the start of the protests making it one of the deadliest in the country since the 2019–2020 ‘Bloody November’ protests when the death toll was estimated to be around 1,500.
“We have to accept the conditions in our country are not right and our people are not happy,” Hajsafi said. “We are here, but it does not mean we should not be their voice or we should not respect them,” the Iran skipper said.
The Iran national team have also come under heavy criticism for not voicing their opinions on the unrest while their meeting with country’s president Ebrahim Raisi before travelling to Doha has had their fans turn against them.
“Whatever we have is from them and we have to fight, we have to perform the best we can and score goals and represent the people. I hope conditions change as to the expectations of the people,” Hajsafi said.
“We hope that [on Monday] we have a very good game that everybody will enjoy and we hope that we will come out of the game as winners. That will also make our people happy,” he said of the game against England.
Iran and England are joined by the United States and Wales in Group B of the World Cup. Team Melli are looking to progress to the knock-out stages for the very first time in their sixth appearance in the World Cup.
