Iran threatens World Cup walk-off if fans protest or display old Persian flag

Iran's threat to walk off

On the eve of the 2026 World Cup, Iran's sports minister Ahmad Donyamali delivered an ultimatum to FIFA: any display of the old Persian flag or chanting of political slogans at Iran's matches will trigger an immediate walk-off by the national team. The team manager, he said, would be responsible for halting play. The warning, reported by Iranian media and confirmed by multiple outlets, escalates an already fraught situation around the team's participation.

We have informed FIFA that if unofficial flags are brought or slogans against the national team are chanted in the stadiums where Iran plays in the World Cup, the team manager will definitely be responsible for stopping the match.

The threat explicitly targets the lion-and-sun emblem—a symbol used by monarchist opposition groups abroad—and any protest linked to the Islamic Republic's human rights record. Donyamali, speaking earlier this week, insisted that only the official flag of the Islamic Republic be permitted inside venues.

Protesters demand Iran's expulsion

Thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, Iranian-American activists held a demonstration outside City Hall on Wednesday, calling for FIFA to ban Iran from the tournament entirely. They displayed photographs of dozens of Iranian athletes who, they say, died in government custody after crossing the regime. Ryan Salami, 21, whose parents fled Iran, told Reuters that allowing the team to compete "presents a calm face to the world, when in fact back home there is no calmness, there's only execution and suffering."

This is the ayatollahs' team.

Asghar Adibi, a former Iran national team player, addressed the crowd, saying the squad is controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and that an organisation "that kills people, tortures people, to have a team representing them" was wrong. Views among protesters diverged: some expressed sympathy for players forced into compliance, while others, like Peymaneh Shafi, said the athletes "are all attached to the regime."

The flag dispute and diaspora anger

Central to the standoff is the symbolism of flags. The official flag of Iran bears the emblem of the Islamic Republic, but opponents in exile often rally around the older tricolour featuring a lion holding a sword against a rising sun. For many in the diaspora—particularly the nearly two million Iranians living in the US, with the largest concentration in Los Angeles—the World Cup offers a rare spotlight. Two of Iran's group-stage matches are scheduled for Los Angeles, a city sometimes called "Tehrangeles." That has turned the stadium into a potential flashpoint.

Logistical hurdles and geopolitical weight

Iran's participation has already been fraught with non-sporting obstacles. Due to US entry restrictions linked to the wider military conflict between the two countries, the team relocated its training camp from Arizona to Tijuana, Mexico, and players are permitted to cross the border only on match days. Separately, Iran and Egypt jointly asked FIFA to prevent any LGBTQ+ Pride-related activities during their fixture in Seattle, which local organisers had designated a "Pride Match" to coincide with the city's Pride weekend.

What happens next

The World Cup begins on June 11. Iran's first match is against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15, followed by Belgium in the same city on June 21, and Egypt in Seattle on June 26. Whether the threatened walk-offs materialise will depend on what unfolds in the stands, but the warnings have already injected a volatile political dimension into the tournament. FIFA has not publicly responded to Donyamali's threat.