Alireza Jahanbaksh lashed out at the English media at a press conference. The Iranian accuses the British press of trying to destabilize Iran’s team by having to answer questions about the protests going on in Iran over women’s rights. The Feyenoord winger believes that the English press are playing ‘mental games’ to distract the country from the opening game on November 21.
When asked by an English journalist whether the protests in his own country affect the preparation for the World Cup, Jahanbaksh replies grumpily. “I’m not surprised you’re asking this question,” the Iran captain began. “To be honest, I’m not sure you would have asked me the same question if England weren’t in our group. Secondly, we’ve been confronted with this situation by English media for weeks now. These are all headlines what we have to deal with as we get closer to the World Cup, whatever the reason.”
Jahanbaksh then suggested that the English media are playing ‘mental games’. “But we only have four days to play one of the biggest games of our lives. Every single person around team Meli and we players are focused on that.” Jahanbaksh then admits that his answer could have been different if he had been asked about the difficult situation in his home country in different circumstances. “To be honest, if you asked me this question outside of my duty to the national team, I would have answered with a different look.”
The 29-year-old former NEC employee indicates that he traveled to Qatar to make his dream come true. “Since I was a kid, it has always been my dream to play for the national team and I’m sure that goes for everyone in the team. We want to respect Iran’s shirt and everyone who represents the national team has worked very hard worked to be here and also during the previous world championships.” Iran also participated in the 2006, 2014 and 2018 World Cups this century.
The situation in Iran is particularly complicated. The death of Mahsa Amini in September, who was detained by the police for improperly wearing her headscarf, has sparked violent protests in that country. To date, 348 people have been killed and more than 15,000 arrested as a result of those protests. On Wednesday, four more protesters were sentenced to death.