Note no. 1: You don’t have to be a soccer fan to appreciate this post. (And if you are not a soccer fan, I am sorry for the sad and meaningless life that you lead.)
Note no. 2: I’ll be adding some stuff—useful analyses by myself and others, lightning round news items, and things from protests and the war in Ukraine I find interesting—at the end of each post from now on.
I am a man who grew up in Iran. Therefore I love soccer. In a totalitarian society wherein the government restricts most things fun, soccer has been one of the few venues for Iranians to express themselves, politically and apolitically. Whereas patriotism and most national symbols are associated with the government, the national team is something with considerable symbolic independence from the regime, so Iranians traditionally didn’t feel dirty supporting it. Because of all these, soccer is something, maybe the only thing, that Iranians have resembling a civil society institution.
My oldest and closest friend lives in Iran. He and I met through a club of Spanish soccer fans. (¡Hala Madrid!) Soccer was something we could argue about, fight over, and be passionately invested in without fearing ramifications. For those of us with an interest in politics, we would get bogged down in the politics of soccer, or even politics of Spain as it related to soccer. We’d argue over the Spanish Civil War, with Real Madrid fans excusing Francisco Franco, and Barcelona fans supporting the communists.
Iranian soccer involves more practical politics. It’s a large and relatively rich industry, so it is very corrupt. Almost certainly, so many clubs owned by IRGC-affiliated people are used for money laundering.