President Donald Trump must reject an outrageous decision from FIFA to ban the pre-Islamic revolution Iranian flag from stadiums. We must defend Iranian freedom fighters’ rights on American soil, just as we have done overseas by striking the Islamic regime.
Frankly, I don’t think the Iranian team should be allowed to participate in the World Cup at all — and I think Trump would have every right to say they shouldn’t be allowed to play on American soil. Until and unless the regime there stops executing protesters and bombing civilians, its players shouldn’t get to travel to Western nations and be applauded. In Iran now, there is not a separation between the government and national teams. The players must uphold regime dictates, as we saw with the national women's soccer team. And we all know a big reason that FIFA is worried about Iranian protesters having their true national flag at games is that it might offend the representatives of a genocidal dictatorship. FIFA is siding against Iranian patriots and dissidents, and siding with the murderous mullahs.
The Athletic asked FIFA if the lion and sun flag was allowed at World Cup stadiums this year, and FIFA replied with its stadium code of conduct that bans "political, offensive and/or discriminatory" items. So apparently protesting genocide and theocratic tyranny is now "discriminatory" and "offensive."
It has always bothered me that the United States chose to host World Cup games this year over July 4 weekend when it is our 250th national birthday, causing Philadelphia (where the Founders wrote, approved, and signed the Declaration of Independence) to host ZERO patriotic 250 events on July 4. This new idiotic globalist decision from FIFA just confirms my opinion. Much as we might wish that sports were not political, too many other countries and entities are determined to make sports political — or, in other words, anti-freedom.
Self-described former Iranian political prisoner Arash Hampay was one of many Iranians — and Israelis — outraged by the reported FIFA decision.
Dear FIFA,
— Arash Hampay (@ahampay) May 19, 2026
Banning the Lion & Sun flag from stadiums is not neutrality, it is silencing millions of Iranians who reject the Islamic Republic and carry this historic flag as a symbol of freedom, identity, and resistance.
People inside #Iran are imprisoned, tortured, and killed… pic.twitter.com/ZzDpsWvm9m
Related: Israel’s Envoy to Christians Describes a Middle East Without Israel, and It's Alarming
FIFA bans Lion & Sun (1,000+ years of Persian history).
— 🇮🇷honey🇮🇷 (@honey____s) May 19, 2026
Allows Islamic Republic flag (50,000 massacred in January).
This isn't about politics.
This is about identity.
We choose Lion and Sun. 🇮🇷🦁☀️@FIFAcom Shame on you! https://t.co/kMRjV1LeHd
Again, let's analyze the context of this FIFA decision. In January, after mass national protests against the terror-sponsoring Iranian regime, that regime's crackdown killed 40,000+ of its own citizens and landed tens of thousands more in jail. The Iranian regime has since executed dozens of freedom protesters. It has also responded to U.S. and Israeli strikes by bombing not only soldiers but also civilians in Israel, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and other countries across the Middle East. The Iranian regime repeatedly violated its ceasefire with the United States, terrorized ships from many nations in the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed to continue jihad indefinitely.
‼️‼️In Iran, innocent protesters are being executed by the Islamic regime, while much of the world stays silent.
— Dantina (@Chickadiii) May 19, 2026
• Ali Fahim
• Amirhossein Khatami
• MohammadAmin Biglori
• Abolhassan Montazer
• Saleh Mohammadi
• Mehdi Ghasemi
• Vahid Bani Amerian
• Shahin Vahed Parast pic.twitter.com/PrSq3VbgFo
And yet, after all that, FIFA is more concerned with pandering to Iran's national team than with allowing peaceful displays of a flag that stands for one of the greatest freedom movements of our age.
