INGLEWOOD – Despite his drive from Las Vegas to join the crowd at SoFi Stadium on Monday, Bahador Morady insisted he had no interest in what happened on the field when Iran took on New Zealand in the teams’ opening game of the World Cup.
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“I’m not here for this team,” he said and nodded toward the pitch. “I’m here to be the voice of the people of Iran. I’m here because they can’t be heard there.”
Morady was among the many fans who defied the anticipated ban on the “Lion and Sun” flag from before the Islamic revolution in Iran. Some wore it on shirts, essentially daring security officials to make them remove it. Others, such as Morady, simply hid it until they were on the stadium concourse.
There was also a large contingent of Iranian fans who energetically waved the nation’s current flag.
Throw in the occasional Stars and Stripes and the wait-and-see nature of the peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, and the pregame atmosphere at SoFi Stadium was considerably more tense than it was for the Americans’ opener Friday. The police and security presence was far more visible, too, though there didn’t appear to be many problems that escalated beyond verbal sparring.
And when Iran’s Ramin Rezaeian scored in the 32nd minute to tie the game, Iranian fans all over the stadium and all over the political spectrum celebrated.
“I just love football and want to see Iran win,” Art Thaba of Los Angeles said after he held the “Sun and Lion” flag high during the Iranian national anthem. “Iranian people love football. I don’t know what this team will do yet, though.”
Two women who were decked out in Iranian gear pounded on a counter in a standing-room section, excitedly shouted about their presence at the game, and asked a reporter to hold their spots while they took pictures to commemorate the occasion.
But when he asked them why it was important for them to be there, they quickly and politely declined to answer.
“It’s all too political,” one said.
That’s a reality that many in the robust Iranian diaspora in Southern California understand, whether they support the current government or wish the United States would continue its campaign until regime change was accomplished.
One confrontation on the 300 level at SoFi was between a woman who wore a T-shirt with the official Iranian flag and another who wore one with the “Sun and Lion” version. They gave each other an earful for a few minutes, with a police officer standing watch nearby, before one walked away.
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A few minutes later, a group with official flags was antagonized by a man waving an American flag in their faces until other Iranian fans — presumably not loyal to the government — jumped in to tell them they were No. 1, or something along those lines.
On Monday morning, about a dozen supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, an international political organization based in France and Albania, rallied near SoFi Stadium to protest what they said was the Iranian government’s persecution of athletes and political prisoners.
The protesters also called on FIFA to suspend Iran from international competition.
“We’re here to protest FIFA’s decision to allow the regime … to use soccer to cover all the crimes they’ve been committing for the past 47 years,” said one of the protesters, Ghodrat Jamshido. “The Iranian government is not for sports.
“This regime should not have been allowed (on) this world stage,” he added.
Later, in the stadium, Amir Guerami from Westwood explained that many fans from the Southern California community wanted Iran to win but also wanted to make sure support of a team wasn’t misconstrued as support for the government.
“We’re supporting the people,” said Guerami, who was born in Iran but moved with his family to Washington, D.C., when he was 6. “Winning in soccer is a point of national pride.
“I think most Iranians, especially in Southern California, they kind of have the same view. I think people in Iran know we’re supporting them. Whether their government uses that as propaganda is another thing.”
Guerami was among the many who hid their “Sun and Lion” flags to get past security, but he wrapped it around his shoulders once he was in the stadium. He said he felt comfortable since there’s such a strong Iranian presence in Southern California, something he said made SoFi Stadium the ideal place for Iran to open World Cup play.
“I think it shows the Iranian government how supportive of the people we are,” he said.
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Staff photographer Drew A. Kelley contributed to this report.