Gregg Berhalter, coach of the U.S. men's national soccer team, apologized Monday for a controversial social media post by the U.S. Soccer Federation, although the group said it had no involvement in the creation of the post.
Over the weekend, the USSF posted on social media an Iranian flag without the emblem of the Islamic Republic intended to demonstrate "support for the women in Iran fighting for basic human rights."
Iran state-affiliated media outlet Tasnim News Agency wrote on Twitter: "The legal advisor of the Iranian Football Federation says the sports association will file a complaint against the U.S. Soccer Team to FIFA's Ethics Committee after the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team disrespected the national flag of Islamic Republic of Iran."
In another post, it stated: "By posting a distorted image of the flag of the Islamic Republic of #Iran on its official account, the #US football team breached the @FIFAcom charter, for which a 10-game suspension is the appropriate penalty. Team #USA should be kicked out of the #WorldCup2022."
The controversy came only days before a match between U.S. and Iran, the final game of the World Cup's group play.
Berhalter said at a press conference Monday: "We're not focused on those outside things and all we can do, on our behalf, is apologize on behalf of the players and the staff. But it's not something we were a part of."
The U.S. team is set to play Iran on Tuesday in a must-win match in order to advance to the knock-out stage. Iran can progress through with a draw if Wales does not defeat England in its next match Tuesday.
Bryan E. Leib, executive director for Iranian Americans for Liberty, said President Joe Biden's appeasement policy has ultimately emboldened Iran to be an advocate for censorship of free speech.
"On one hand, we should all be surprised the Khamenei Regime would call for the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team to be removed from the World Cup for this, but on the other hand, we really shouldn't be surprised in the least because they think they are invincible and can say whatever they want with no repercussions," Leib wrote in a statement. "President Joe Biden and his European allies have been appeasing the Khamenei Regime for far too long and when a terrorist regime is given an inch, they will take a yard and more.
"We applaud the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team for removing the Islamic emblem from the flag graphic being used to identify the Islamic Republic of Iran. It's a bold move by USMNT and it sent a strong message to the terrorist regime in Tehran. Whoever the winner is of tomorrow's US vs Iran game – the loser is the Iranian people because they will wake up the next day living under a Khamenei Regime that has grown exponentially stronger with President Biden in the White House."
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