Carlos Queiroz Cancel press conference

Marca - Controversy has sparked in Iranian football, as some of the national team's finest players have publicly spoken in favor of Mahsa Amini, who was murdered in September by the Iranian moral police.

Her murder was followed by numerous protests against police brutality and repression, with one of the players speaking out about Amini being Bayer Leverkusen forward Sardar Azmoun.

"I cannot keep quiet about what has happened to Mahsa Amini," Azmoun said.

"If the punishment is being kicked out of the national team, it's a small price to pay for even a single lock of hair from an Iranian woman."

Carlos Queiroz cancels his press conference

Following his remarks, Iran coach Carlos Queiroz had to cancel the press conference in which he was going to unveil the Iranian squad for the World Cup.

The stage was already set and all the press was already in place.

Some Iranian media are claiming that this decision was a result of the pressure from the Iranian football federation on Queiroz to drop Azmoun and several of the players who made public comments against the government.

Queiroz was not willing to do so and the press conference was cancelled at the last minute.

Sardar Azmoun

Illegal interference that FIFA will look at

Should Queiroz not call up the rebellious players on Monday - this being the deadline for the call-ups to be announced - the Iranian federation could be committing an illegal interference in the coach's work.

That's because FIFA prohibit the government of a country from interfering in the football federation.

The players who were critical of the Iranian regime were Azmoun, Omid Noorafkan, Milad Sarlak, Mohammadrez Akhbari and Saman Fallah.

It remains to be seen whether they will finally make it to the World Cup.

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