UF Quick Throw: Iran players escape ban, or so we're told

Iran's Press TV, aka State Radio, says the footballers who wore green bands of protest in South Korea WILL NOT face a ban or punishment. This decision-- if proven true-- is probably due to pressure from FIFA, which had launched an inquiry. It's a long-standing rule of the governing body to block government interference in football associations. The threat of missing out on the next Asian championship was, by all accounts, enough to sway Iran's powers-that-be-for-now.

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Iran Football Against The Enemy -- Latest

Look Ma, no green wristbands!!

As we reported earlier, a number of Iran footballers wore green wristbands in the first half of their WC qualifer against South Korea today in Seoul. They were forced to take them off for the second, as noted here and around the web.

Now an Iranian team official has said the players were only observing "religious tradition," and removed them to "deny any speculation and misunderstanding."

Sounds good... I mean, green was associated with Islam way before The Green Wave and Iran Election 2009. But there is one small issue. Look after the jump... lots of pics of Iran football... try to find a green wristband. (Spoiler: You won't)


This first image is from the 2006 World Cup. If you saw any of that, you should remember that no one in the Iran squad wore any religious gear. The rest of the pics were collected from across the web, from different games and dates. There's one common thread...

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UF Quick Throw: Iranian Football Against the Enemy

**UPDATE: IMAGE FROM SOUTH KOREA***

Rock the Casbah
The Iran football team and its supporters have taken the Green Wave protests with them to Seoul, South Korea, for today's World Cup qualifier. Multiple reports have traveling Iranian fans demonstrating against Friday's alleged election fraud (and so much more, of course) outside the national stadium.

Down on the pitch, a number of Iran players were spotted wearing green wristbands. They were reportedly forced to shed the colors during halftime.
***MORE images after the jump***

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