Dave, that would be the exact idea. It's a little ...

2009-07-21T00:59:22.173-05:00

Dave, that would be the exact idea. It's a little tricky, though, because Iran did not qualify in the first place. So that gives Iran a little bit of breathing room. It doesn't seem logical to me that an administration so concerned about PR and image right now would ban the two most popular athletes in Iran (Mahdavikia and Ali Karimi). Certainly, had they beaten South Korea and advanced to the finals in South Africa, there would be more protests in the street if they sent a team without those two. There is no American sporting equivalent to what the World Cup means, but if there was on for basketball, it'd be like if we didn't send Kobe and LeBron.

The other thing is that the players "retired" and gave reasons for doing so. Everyone knows and it's been reported that the government pressured those decisions, yet, at the end of the day FIFA can't force the players to play. I think that is why it is so important for FIFA to act swift on these sorts of actions.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. It will surely depend on the political fallout in Iran. I don't think FIFA has any place to decide political fates, but they can stop governmental interference in soccer which in turn usually weakens said political institution (at the very least in PR, having lost an international battle).

That was a bold thing the players did. How about t...

2009-07-20T20:27:18.369-05:00

That was a bold thing the players did. How about this: FIFA bans the Iranian national team from the World Cup unless they reinstate the "retired" players.

I don't know if that makes sense. But it would be one more way to keep the story alive and keep the Iranian government uncomfortable.

Comments on The True Football: Iran National Team Sees Green

Dave, that would be the exact idea. It's a little ...

That was a bold thing the players did. How about t...