Iran's football team refused to sing national anthem

Iran's national soccer team chose not to sing their country's anthem before their opening World Cup match against England on Monday, in an apparent show of support for protesters back home

As Iranian fans began to filter into the Khalifa Stadium in Doha before the start of Team Melli's World Cup campaign against England, many wore their support for the month-long protests against the government on their clothing, or painted on their faces.

Demonstrations against the regime began in September, when 22 year old Mahsa Amini died in police custody in Tehran in September after allegedly violating dress codes. Her family said police beat her to death.

Thousands have taken to the streets to protest, but a government crackdown has killed at least 370 people, including 47 children, the Iran Human Rights group estimated. The protests are the largest display of dissent from Iranians in years.

In Doha, as the tournament kicked off, women and men held up signs bearing one of the protest movement's most popular slogans “Women. Life. Freedom.” Others wore T-shirts bearing the names of female protesters killed by Iranian security forces in recent weeks. At home, women are banned from football matches.

Some of the Iranian flags on display had the middle chopped out or covered over. Iran's flag was changed after the 1979 revolution from a sword-bearing lion in front of a sun to a new national emblem of four swords forming a stylised version of the word Allah. The takbir was also added to the flag.

The protests have affected the fervour with which some fans support their team and led to a debate on whether to support the team at all. The team did not sing along to their national anthem at the opening of the game. On Sunday, Iran defender Ehsan Hajsafi said his team could still serve as a voice for the people.