Iranian American soccer fans are torn between pride and protest as the World Cup nears

STONY BROOK, N. Y. (AP) — With Iran qualifying for the World Cup , Arad Ershad had visions of splurging on flights and tickets to attend one of the team’s upcoming first-round matches in Los Angeles.

That changed when Ershad, a New York graduate student who grew up in Tehran, saw how many of the players he had adored since childhood failed to speak out following its theocratic leadership’s deadly crackdown on protesters in January. “It feels so bad that I do not want them to succeed. They were like my icons, my legends," he lamented during a recent pickup soccer game on Long Island.

“I know playing a World Cup is the biggest thing a soccer player can achieve in his life, but how can you just be silent? ” Ershad is one of many diehard soccer fans in the Iranian diaspora with conflicting emotions as Team Melli — the Persian nickname for Iran's national squad — prepares for its seventh World Cup. Iran is set to begin its campaign against New Zealand on June 15 near Los Angeles, a region that's home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran, including many who fled the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Some view the men's team as complicit in whitewashing the Iranian government's repression and can’t bear to watch the competition. Others plan to attend Iran's games to show their love for the country and sport, but bearing signs of protest. Still others say they’ll set politics aside and just enjoy seeing Iran compete on soccer's biggest stage.