FIFA's pre-revolutionary Iran flag ban upheld by US judge hours before World Cup opener

A US federal judge upheld FIFA’s ban on the pre-revolutionary Iranian flag just hours before Iran’s World Cup Group G opener against New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in California on Tuesday.

The ruling came after an Iran fan intending to attend the match filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban. Judge Curtis A. Kin heard the case on Monday morning in Los Angeles and denied the application.

“Free speech is incredibly important, it is sacred, a bedrock of our society, but it is not without limitation, such as private actor, on private property, and as shown by previous cases, regulating in reasonable way. I deny the application,” Judge Kin said.

He also cited the practical difficulties of reversing an established stadium policy at short notice. “There may be harm to some 2,500 staff members who have to deal with safety protocols,” he said. “It is a tremendous burden to change a long-standing stadium protocol for a massive event in a period of hours. It is hard to see how FIFA could make a change at one stadium and not the rest.”

The flag at the centre of the dispute resembles Iran’s current official flag but includes a lion and sun motif in the centre — a symbol associated with the monarchy that was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Critics of the current Iranian government have used it as an emblem of opposition.

FIFA’s existing policy prohibits any materials of a “political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature” at World Cup venues, a broad framework the organisation cited in its original decision to ban the flag from stadiums throughout the tournament.

Iran’s campaign in Group G continues with a match against Belgium on June 21, before they face Egypt on June 26.