Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 11:45am on 03 Mar 2026,Tuesday Sports
The Iran women’s football team did not sing their national anthem before their opening match at the AFC Women's Asian Cup on the Gold Coast. The players stood still as the anthem played at Cbus Super Stadium. Head coach Marziyeh Jafari also stayed silent. The gesture was seen as a protest amid the war involving Iran, the US and Israel, days after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in strikes. After the 3-0 defeat to South Korea, captain Zahra Ghanbari and Jafari avoided questions on the issue. An AFC official asked media to focus on football. Jafari said, “We knew that we would have a tough game ahead.”
