Why Was FIFA Sued Over the Pre-Revolutionary Iran Flag?

A California nonprofit sued FIFA in June 2026 to stop the governing body from banning Iran’s pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag at 2026 World Cup venues in the United States, and a Los Angeles judge rejected the request for emergency relief hours before Iran’s opening match. The FIFA lawsuit over the pre-revolutionary Iran flag turned on whether stadiums function as public forums where state free-speech protections apply, or as private property where a tournament organizer may set its own rules. Judge Curtis A. Kin sided with FIFA.¹

What the Lion and Sun Flag Represents

Iran’s national flag before the 1979 Islamic Revolution carried a lion holding a sword beneath a rising sun, set on a green, white, and red tricolor. The emblem dates to the 15th century and was written into Iran’s first constitution in 1906. After Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s revolution, the new government replaced it with an Islamic emblem and the inscription “Allahu Akbar.”²

In the diaspora, the old flag reads as opposition to the current government. Its meaning is not uniform. Some wave it to support restoring the monarchy; others carry it as a broader symbol of resistance without endorsing the Pahlavi dynasty.² Iranian Americans used it in protests outside 2026 World Cup venues to show solidarity with dissidents inside Iran.³

The Rule FIFA Applied

FIFA’s stadium code of conduct prohibits “any materials, including but not limited to banners, flags, fliers, apparel and other paraphernalia, that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature.”⁴ For 2026, FIFA treated the Lion and Sun flag as political under that rule and barred it from every venue. The Iranian Football Federation reportedly made “respect for the official Iranian flag” one of its conditions for taking part in the tournament.³

FIFA declined to comment on the litigation and pointed reporters to its prohibited-items policy. A source with direct knowledge of FIFA’s planning confirmed the governing body viewed the pre-revolutionary flag as squarely within the ban.⁴

Who Sued and What They Argued

On June 11, 2026, the Institute for Voices of Liberty, a California nonprofit, and its director Sam Kermanian filed Kermanian v. FIFA, No. 26STCV18475, in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The complaint also named Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as co-defendants.⁵ Before suing, the group had sent FIFA a demand letter asking it to retract the restriction and warning of court action in state or federal court.⁶

The plaintiffs argued that World Cup stadiums function as “large public gathering places open to the general public,” which would bring California’s constitutional free-speech protections to bear on what fans may carry inside. Displaying the Lion and Sun, they said, is “protected symbolic and political speech.”⁷ They also alleged viewpoint discrimination under state law, contending FIFA was singling out one political perspective while allowing other national symbols.⁵

Attorney Shahrokh Mokhtarzadeh framed the core claim as follows: the World Cup is a joint venture between FIFA and government entities, making stadiums public forums where a business cannot force a customer to waive free-speech rights as a condition of entry.¹ The suit sought a preliminary and permanent injunction, a declaration that FIFA could not prohibit the flag, and damages for fans already penalized for carrying it.⁷

Why the Judge Denied Emergency Relief

The hearing on the emergency injunction took place the morning of Monday, June 15, 2026, roughly six hours before Iran faced New Zealand at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Judge Kin denied the application and upheld the ban on four grounds.¹

Stadiums are private venues that require a ticket, not public spaces like parks or streets, so the California free-speech protections the plaintiffs invoked did not apply the way they argued. As a private actor on private property, FIFA could impose “reasonable” speech restrictions.¹ Overturning the policy on the eve of kickoff would also place a “tremendous burden” on operations by forcing changes to security and safety protocols for roughly 2,500 staff members.⁸ And the plaintiffs had delayed: they had known the match schedule for “many, many months,” which the judge said made last-minute emergency relief inappropriate.

What Happened After the Ruling

The ban did not clear the flag from the tournament. Fans unfurled the Lion and Sun at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara during Qatar’s match against Switzerland on June 13, two days before the court ruled.⁴ Outside SoFi Stadium on June 15, demonstrators draped in the flag protested what they described as Tehran’s “deadly January crackdown on dissent.”⁸

Roozbeh Farahanipour, an Iranian American activist who fled Iran in 2000 and now heads the West Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, told the BBC: “We’re in the United States — the land of the free. FIFA should not interfere when people want to express themselves.”³ In a separate interview he argued, “FIFA don’t have a right to talk about the outside of the field, which is American soil.”⁹

In Seattle, where Iran was set to play Egypt on June 26, the city’s head of civil legal division, Rebecca Cohen, announced on June 11 that the city officially opposed FIFA’s flag ban and was “at odds with FIFA.”¹⁰ No separate court filing in Washington was reported; the city’s position remained a public statement rather than a lawsuit.

How This Fits a Longer Pattern

Iranian fans had brought the Lion and Sun flag into stadiums at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and some had the flags confiscated.⁷ That tournament unfolded during Iran’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in morality-police custody in September 2022. Iran’s national team stood silently during the anthem before its opening match against England.¹¹

FIFA’s regulations do not define “political statement” with precision, which leaves enforcement subjective. Players who have engaged in political expression have faced consequences from fines to bans. Iranian goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini was suspended one match and fined after embracing a female fan on the pitch in 2024, and former national team player Voria Ghafouri was arrested for criticizing the government’s violence against Kurds. Activists have noted that FIFA banned Russia from competition over its invasion of Ukraine while declining to sanction Iran over its domestic human-rights record.¹²

1
The New York Times / The Athletic. Iran Flags World Cup Pre-Revolutionary
2
Britannica. Why Are Iranian Protesters Using the Pre-Revolution Lion and Sun Flag
3
BBC Sport. Iran Flags World Cup 2026
4
The New York Times / The Athletic. Iran Flags Ban World Cup
5
Bloomberg Law. FIFA Sued Over World Cup Ban on Pre-Revolutionary Iranian Flag
6
Iran International. Institute for Voices of Liberty Threatens Legal Action Against FIFA
7
The New York Times / The Athletic. Iran Flag World Cup Lawsuit
8
PBS NewsHour. Iranian Americans Plan Protests and Watch Parties Ahead of Teams World Cup Opener
9
Al Jazeera. World Cup Iranians in Los Angeles Divided on Whether to Cheer or Jeer Iran
10
The Seattle Times. Seattle Opposes FIFA Ban on Prerevolution Iranian Flag
11
PBS NewsHour. Iran’s Historic Women’s Protest Overshadows World Cup Performance
12
The New York Times / The Athletic. Iran Women and the Ongoing Struggle for Football Freedom