Internal security threats against the families of Iran’s national team players
The families of football team players participating in the Qatar World Cup have played a significant role in boosting the morale of these players and highlighting national identity and football fandom. After many matches, we have seen players go to the stands to spend a few moments with their family members who were present at the stadium. Achraf Hakimi’s kiss on his mother’s hand was one of the emotional and historic moments of this tournament.
Such scenes have not been much observed regarding our national team, and there is no news of their families in the stadium. Even if they were present, there has been no sign of fandom and family support spirit allowed to become newsworthy within the stadium.
In the hours before Iran’s decisive match against Qatar, sports and non-sports journalists are covering the status of the national team and spectators, continuing the trend of news coverage of Iran’s World Cup presence from the beginning. Security news sources have provided new information to CNN’s reporter about their awareness of serious threats against the families of Iranian players inside Iran. Based on this, Iranian players have been threatened to adhere to specific protocols that have been set for them for security reasons in the game against the USA, and if not, their families will be at risk.