Sport24.az
According to Marzieh Jafari, the head coach of the Iranian women's national team, the tension created by Iranian state television influenced the decision of some players to stay in Australia after the Asian Cup. Sport24.az reports that she made a statement to her country's press about this:
"After the players decided not to perform the national anthem before the game against South Korea, channel presenter Mohammad Reza Shahbazi stated that 'traitors should be treated more harshly in times of war'."
Let us also note that yesterday, the Iranian Football Federation issued a statement on behalf of Jafari and later deleted it: "Our girls suffered from the difficult atmosphere created in the first match... But the greater mistake was made by those at home who did not understand this atmosphere and called for rebellion against the girls of this land. I asked the Federation to investigate this matter because there was psychological pressure on our players. I am sure that if such an atmosphere had not been created, none of our football players would have stayed in Australia."
The coach also reported pressure from Australian law enforcement:
"Australian police called the players several times and had individual conversations with them. They offered our girls to stay in Australia. This happened under the influence of the political atmosphere created.
Fortunately, most of the team members refused. Even Mohaddeseh Zolfi, who initially gave a positive answer, soon changed her mind and, with God's help, will return to Iran with the team. The rumors about Golnoush Khosravi and Afsana Chatrenoor are also completely false - they are currently with us in Malaysia and we will be flying to Iran soon."
