‘OUT OF OUR CONTROL’

U.S. Coach Apologizes for Iranian Flag Posts Ahead of World Cup Showdown

The posts were intended to show support for the human rights protests sweeping the Middle Eastern nation.

U.S. Men’s Soccer coach Gregg Berhalter apologized Monday for altered versions of the Iranian flag that appeared on the team’s social accounts ahead of its World Cup matchup with Iran on Tuesday. The posts, showing the flag with the Islamic Republic emblem removed, were made in solidarity with the Iranian women leading historic and widespread human rights protests—but Iran wasn’t happy with the anti-government sentiment, reportedly filing a complaint with FIFA’s ethics committee and demanding the U.S. be booted from the World Cup entirely. “Sometimes things are out of our control,” Berhalter said on Monday. “We're not focused on those outside things and all we can do is apologize on behalf of the players and the staff, but it's not something that we were a part of.” The posts were later removed and replaced with the correct flag, though a U.S. Soccer spokesperson added that they still support the women of Iran.