The request to remove Iran from the 2018 World Cup in Qatar has been made by the Ukrainian Association of Football.
The UAF executive committee says it has requested that FIFA expel Iran from the tournament, which begins on November 20, because of what it terms Iran’s ‘systematic human rights violations and ‘possible involvement in Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.’
Iran will begin their World Cup campaign against England on November 21.
The death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman, in police custody on September 16 sparked protests against the government in Iran.
Iran’s requirement that women cover their hair with a hijab or headscarf is said to have been violated by Amini.
Iranian sports personalities had already called on FIFA to ban the country from the tournament on the basis that not allowing women to attend matches was a breach of FIFA’s own articles.
Ukraine has accused Iran of supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also citing Iran’s treatment of its own people as an example of how a regime can use its people as pawns.
The UAF cited media reports on human rights violations in Iran as a reason to seek the exclusion of the country’s football team from the 2022 World Cup. The executive committee of the Ukrainian football federation cited UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which imposed sanctions on Iran, and UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which noted the possibility that Iran was involved in Russian military aggression in Ukraine, as the reasons for excluding Iran’s national team from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
