The beautiful game has an ugly political problem on its hands. Iranian diaspora protesters and former national team players are mounting a coordinated campaign to get FIFA to boot Iran from the 2026 World Cup, arguing that the country’s football federation is too entangled with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to deserve a seat at the world’s biggest sporting event.
Demonstrations kicked off outside the FIFA Congress in Vancouver on April 30, 2026, and organizers are planning to keep the pressure up with more protests scheduled outside the Los Angeles stadium on June 7, well ahead of Iran’s opening group-stage match against New Zealand on June 15.
The sportswashing argument
The core claim from protesters is straightforward. Iran’s national soccer team, they argue, serves as a vehicle for “sportswashing,” letting the government project an image of normalcy while presiding over well-documented human rights violations back home.
Former Iranian soccer stars have lined up behind the movement. Ali Karimi and Masoud Shojaei, both prominent former national team players, have publicly condemned FIFA for what they describe as complicity in propping up a regime accused of severe abuses.
