Chennaiyin defender sees red for protesting against atrocities back home
For Chennaiyin FC’s Iranian defender Vafa Hakhamaneshi, it was a difficult choice. On one side was the cause of his country, which is burning with human rights violation and violence against women, and at the other end of the spectrum was his professional compulsion.
But Vafa chose to raise his voice against all the atrocities that have been happening in Iran, even if he had to put his team in a spot of bother. He took off his shirt to display the message #Women#Life#Freedom on his vest after scoring in the 70th minute, even though he was already on a yellow card. He knew he would see a red for it and he didn’t protest one bit when the second booking happened. It seemed CFC were ready to play with 10 men and they managed to cling on to the lead.
“I thought about it for the last couple of weeks. I had to do something for the people of my country and my teammates knew about it. It so happened that I was already on a yellow, but three points can’t be bigger than lives of human beings back in Iran,” Vafa told TOI on Saturday.
Women in Iran are breaking the hijab law as a show of dissent against the current regime and Vafa felt it is absolutely necessary to stand beside them. “I discussed this with my family members back in Iran as well. . . I may not spend too much time in my country, but I have to spread the word through my actions. And yesterday was the chance to do it,” Vafa said.
In Iran, for a very long-time women were not allowed inside the stadium and Jafar Panahi’s award-winning film Offside brought this issue to the forefront in 2006. Vafa hasn’t watched the film, but he insists women deserve a better life in Iran. “And not just women, it’s the economy and everything. . . something has to be done.”
Vafa has got thousands of messages since Friday night from all over the world. “People are letting me know from across the world that they are beside me on this. . . I know I had put my team in a spot yesterday but they are like my family and they, too, understood my compulsion. I am thankful to my team members for understanding my cause,” Vafa said.
