A massive row has erupted after Iran’s Mohammad Mohebi celebrated with a gun gesture against New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup. The match ended with a 2-2 draw on Tuesday. While this gesture is not new to football, the timing of Mohebi’s celebration has coloured it politically. Outrage has even led to a petition demanding that Iran and Mohebi be expelled from the tournament.
But the backlash is a bit excessive. Several players have historically used the gun-firing celebration. From Argentine Gabriel Batistuta’s machine-gun routine in the 1990s to Irish Robbie Keane’s iconic finger-gun salute and Edinson Cavani’s sniper-style celebrations—guns have long played a crucial part in the celebrations of a footballer.Batistuta’s celebration became one of the most recognisable trademarks of his era. Several other sports stars copied it as well. Keane performed his famous cartwheel, forward roll, and finger-gun celebration so often that it became inseparable from his identity as a striker. Cavani’s sniper pose occasionally attracted criticism, but it was seldom politicised.
These expressions were generally viewed as gestures of confidence not endorsements of violence or a political statement. Fans understood the moves—a way of saying a striker was ‘on target’ or had ‘fired’ his team ahead—and took it sportingly. This sporting spirit has always been deeply embedded in football culture.Mohebi’s celebration belongs to that same category. And, politics should not be dragged into this.
