Doha denies working with Tehran to quell Iran protest

Qatar is denying allegations that it is collaborating with authorities in Tehran to keep a lid on protests during a World Cup tournament coinciding with an unprecedented nationwide protest movement in Iran.

- BORZOU DARAGAHI

A trove of leaked recordings and documents suggest Iran was coordinating with Qatar to suppress protests and was hoping to use excitement over the national team's progress in the tournament to slow the momentum of a nationwide protest movement that has challenged Tehran's clerical dictatorship.

The documents were hacked from the hardline Fars News Agency by the group Black Reward, which has posted some of the material to its Telegram page and shared others with opposition media outlets.

While the authenticity of the documents could not be independently verified, Fars confirmed that it had been hacked.

Leaked documents include layouts of the Fars office and phone numbers of news agency officials. If authentic, the documents could show a manipulation of Iranian football that blatantly violates Fifa rules demanding political neutrality in any member team's dealings.

"If the evidence is conclusive and verified it represents a major breach in the mixing of politics and sport Fifa is trying to regulate," said Alun Hardman, a professor of ethics and sport at Cardiff Metropolitan University. "The line between politics and sport has been massively blurred. It represents a new and serious development." Details from the hack emerged as Iran lost their final World Cup group game against the United States last night, ending their chances of reaching the final 16 stage for the first time in its football history. The hacked files include audio of a Revolutionary Guard official speaking to employees of the notorious hardline news and propaganda platform and describing plans to use the national football club's players and their head coach Carlos Queiroz, a Portuguese citizen, to whip up nationalist sentiment and counter the 10-week protest movement triggered by death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.