In six weeks time, England meet Iran in their World Cup opener at Khalifa International Stadium. The quadrennial dream of success will come alive once again, the nation consumed by the same old expectations.
But there must be no escaping the questions and concerns around a tournament tainted by discrimination. That England kick off against Iran, in a group also featuring Wales and the United States, adds another layer of complexity, another reason to pause and consider how intrinsically linked football’s power brokers are with some of the planet’s most inimical countries.
Iran are not newbies – this will be their fifth appearance in the past seven World Cups – but this time the circumstances, during an uprising and widespread condemnation, are widely different. It may not be deafening but there are calls for a country ruled by a regime that has oppressed women for decades to be expelled. Calls that FIFA president Gianni Infantino is ignoring.
