FIFA World Cup: Empty seats and controversy over Iranian national anthem

For one, the idea of Qatar – an ultra-conservative state with a questionable human rights record, poor stance on LGBTQIA+ rights, and strict police enforcement laws seems to have dissuaded many from making the trip. 

And that’s before you account for the last-minute ban on serving alcoholic beverages in stadiums. This situation made things awkward for FIFA and one of their prime sponsors, Budweiser. 

Despite calls for a boycott of the tournament, many have made the trip to witness the first-ever World Cup held in the Middle East. 

However, the buzz around the tournament isn’t the same – as evidenced by the fact that stadiums aren’t quite as full as many would expect. 

Take the England match, for example. The Three Lions are one of the most supported teams in world football, but their game against Iran saw swathes of empty seats. 

Despite that, the attendance for the match was put at 45,534 – despite the stadium having a capacity of just 40,000 seats. 

The same was true in the opening game, which saw Qatar take on Ecuador and lose 2-0. In a stadium with 60,000 fans, the official attendance was… 67,372. 

This happened again during the match between Netherlands and Senegal, which was played out in a stadium with a capacity of 40,000 – but somehow had 41,721 fans in attendance. 

To make matters worse, fans in multiple games could not go inside the stadium due to ticketing issues, despite having passed for the match. 

But back to England’s game against Iran – or rather, the start of it. The Iran players made headlines worldwide for choosing not to sing their national anthem ahead of the match. 

They chose to do so to show solidarity with the anti-hijab protests that have rocked the nation for about two months now. 

And it wasn’t just them who chose to show solidarity with the protestors – even Iran fans in the stadium roundly booed the anthem as it started playing, in an apparent bid to voice their displeasure to the current ruling regime. 

The reason for the booing of the anthem also has a historical context. The nation adopted the current anthem in 1990 following the death of Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. 

It’s also worth noting that the anthem praises the Islamic Republic of Iran, the regime that rules the nation and has ruled since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. 

So when the fans booed the anthem, they let the rulers know precisely where they stood. 

Even before the game, there were chants of ‘Say her name, Mahsa Amini’ about the young woman whose death in the custody of the morality police sparked all the protests in the first place.