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The Iran women’s national football team made quite a statement during the opening match of the Women’s Asian Cup on Monday night, as they refused to sing while the national anthem played over the speakers at the Seabus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast.
Before the match against South Korea, the players were in their traditional lines when the Iranian national anthem started playing. The women, looking straight ahead and barely moving, were quiet as it seemed they were being jeered by the crowd. Afterwards, attendees applauded after South Korea’s 3–0 victory.
Iran’s manager Marzieh Jafari was also seen smiling after seeing the silence of her players.
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Team Iran listens to the national anthem before the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 football match between South Korea and Iran in the Gold Coast on March 2, 2026. (Izhar Khan/AFP)
The silence has been especially deafening following the confirmed US-Israeli strikes over the weekend that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has since retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US allies or regional countries that host military bases, including Israel and Bahrain and Qatar.
During media questioning on Sunday, Jafari, along with Iran women’s national team captain Zahra Ghanbari, were asked about Khamenei’s death. The question was ended immediately.
According to ESPN, Jafari replied in Farsi, but an AFC media representative cut off his response without any translation.
The media representative said before continuing the question, “Okay, I think that’s all for your questions. Thanks for asking. Let’s just focus on the game.”
Although the content of Jafri’s response is unknown, the team’s calm nature during the national anthem, which is usually found when at least some players sing it, speaks volumes.
A massive joint military operation by the US and Israel, known as “Operation Epic Fury”, killed several prominent Iranian leaders, including Khamenei. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday against any Iranian retaliation, saying that if Iran “attacked too forcefully” they would be met with “force that has never been seen before.”
The attacks have affected the sports world as well as the rest of the country; The football federation president shared a gloomy outlook about playing in this year’s FIFA World Cup. Iran have already qualified for the tournament and are set to face New Zealand in Los Angeles in June to open their Group G programme.
Islamic Republic of Iran walks out for the start of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 match between Korea Republic vs Islamic Republic of Iran at Gold Coast Stadium on March 2, 2026 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Albert Perez/Getty Images)
“It is certain that after this attack, we cannot be expected to wait for the World Cup with hope,” football president Mehdi Taj told sports portal Varzesh3 on Sunday.
“The American regime has attacked our homeland, and this is an incident that will not go unanswered.”
FIFA also said it would continue to monitor the situation with Iran.
The Iran national team will not be preparing for the World Cup at this time, due to a 40-day mourning period following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, the women’s national team was allowed to compete in the Asian Cup.
Elsewhere in the sports world, Fox News Digital has learned that Israel’s national gymnastics team has suspended all training and team activities amid the retaliatory attacks, with the Israel Gymnastics Federation (IGF) issuing a statement declaring that the violence has caused “unavoidable disruption.”
“The current security situation in our region has caused unavoidable disruption to our regular training schedules and created significant uncertainty regarding the national teams’ professional plans, especially as we are at the start of the international season,” the statement said.
Team Iran pose for a group photo before their AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026 match against South Korea in Gold Coast on March 2, 2026. (Izhar Khan/AFP)
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A team source also told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the gymnasts have been moving between bomb shelters since Iran’s retaliatory strikes began.
At least eight Israelis were killed in Iranian airstrikes on Sunday when a missile barrage hit Beit Shemesh, just a few miles from Jerusalem.
Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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