Iranian soccer players refused to sing the national anthem at World Cup

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At a World Cup game, Iranian soccer players object to singing the national anthem.

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At their opening World Cup match in Qatar on Monday, members of the Iranian national soccer team declined to sing their country's song,

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ostensibly in protest of the Iranian regime and in support of continuing demonstrations for women's rights.

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Before their World Cup match against England, ran's players lined up with their arms around one another and remained expressionless.

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The Iranian squad has performed its national song at past competitions, like as the Asian Cup in 2020 and the World Cup in 2018,

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but on Monday, while some Iranian supporters inside the stadium booed and brandished signs that read "Women, life, and freedom,"

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The squad and supporters appeared to show their solidarity with Iranian demonstrators in response to the murder in police custody in September of Mahsa Amini,

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Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested for wearing an improper hijab.

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