As the world prepares for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, a serious debate is emerging among human rights activists, athletes, and defenders of freedom: should a regime that has, over decades, suppressed, imprisoned, and executed its athletes use football’s most prominent global stage to gain political legitimacy and credibility?
This question is not merely about football. It concerns the relationship between sport and the values that FIFA and international sporting bodies have consistently emphasized values such as human dignity, respect for human rights, and opposition to discrimination and repression.
The global sporting community has not remained silent in the face of certain regimes in the past. The most notable example was South Africa’s apartheid regime, which was excluded for years from international football competitions and many other sporting events due to its racist policies.
FIFA suspended South Africa’s membership in 1961 and fully expelled the country in 1976. South Africa was only able to return to the global football community after the end of apartheid and the beginning of political reforms.
This decision showed that global sport does not wish to become a tool for normalizing and legitimizing governments that violate fundamental human rights.
There are other examples as well. Yugoslavia was banned from major football competitions in 1992 due to international sanctions. In recent years, Russia has also faced extensive restrictions and suspensions in international football due to the war in Ukraine.
Therefore, historical precedent shows that FIFA, in certain circumstances, has taken actions that go beyond the football field.
Athletes; Forgotten Victims in Iran
Critics of the Iranian regime’s participation in the 2026 World Cup argue that the government has not only failed to support sports but has repeatedly prosecuted, arrested, and executed athletes for their political views or for supporting popular protests.
Over the past four decades, a significant number of Iranian athletes have been arrested, tortured, banned, or executed. Names such as Navid Afkari, Iran’s wrestling champion, have remained in the global public memory. Before him, athletes such as Habib Khabiri, captain of Iran’s national football team; Forouzan Abdi, a member of Iran’s women’s national volleyball team; Houshang Montazer-ol-Zohour, a national Greco-Roman wrestler; Samad Montazeri, a weightlifting champion; Aladdin Atrati Koushali; and Mahshid Razaghi were among those who fell victim to political repression.
In addition, dozens of other athletes have been barred from national teams and international competitions for supporting protests or expressing personal views.
Iranian Football; Sport or Political Tool?
One of the criticisms raised concerns the extensive influence of governmental and security structures in Iranian football. Critics say the Football Federation and many major clubs are under the influence of regime-linked institutions, and that sporting success has been turned into a tool of political propaganda rather than belonging to the people and the players.
In such circumstances, the national team’s presence in the World Cup is not seen as a purely sporting event, but as an opportunity to project legitimacy and normalize the image of a regime facing widespread domestic protests and international criticism.
Voices of Former Iranian Footballers and Athletes
Opposition to the Iranian regime’s participation in the 2026 World Cup has not only been raised by political activists. A number of well-known athletes and former national team members have also called for scrutiny of the issue.
Among the signatories of this appeal are Moslem Eskandarfelabi, head of the Sports Commission of the National Council of Resistance of Iran; Mohammad Ghorbani, world wrestling champion; Asghar Adibi, Iranian national football player; Bahram Mavedat, member of Iran’s 1978 World Cup national team; Hassan Nayeb-Agha, member of Iran’s 1978 World Cup and 1976 Olympic team; and Abbas Novin-Rouzegar, former Iranian national football player.
These athletes believe FIFA should not allow a regime they say is responsible for the repression and elimination of numerous Iranian athletes to exploit the World Cup for political purposes.
A Question FIFA Must Answer
The main argument of opponents is not to deprive Iranian players of football. The question is whether a regime accused of widespread human rights violations and repression of athletes should be allowed to use the national football flag to gain political legitimacy in the world’s biggest tournament.
As FIFA has previously taken positions on apartheid South Africa and other exceptional cases, it now faces the question of whether it will apply its stated principles on human rights and human dignity without discrimination.
The 2026 World Cup will not be merely a football competition. For many Iranians, it has become a test of whether international sporting institutions remain committed to the values they have spoken about for years. FIFA’s response to this demand will undoubtedly be judged far beyond the green rectangle of the football pitch.
