Are You Ready For Some Football?

World Cup fever is here, and pity those poor Iranian soccer players. Their team lost to Mexico, 3-1, there are mass protests against Ahmadinejad's presence in Germany, and who knows how the Iranian mullahs will treat the team when they get back home.

Senior politicians, Jewish groups and a prominent German TV host will join a demonstration today in Nuremberg hours before Iran play their opening match of the tournament against Mexico in the city. They are furious that Ahmadinejad's deputy, Mohammad Aliabadi, has been allowed into the country after the Iranian President called the Holocaust 'a fairytale' and called for the destruction of Israel.

Germany has very strict laws on Holocaust denial - which can and do result in criminal sanctions against Holocaust deniers and others who deny the fact that the Nazis sought to exterminate Jews, gays, lesbians, and gypsies.

As for those protests, you've got Jews and exiled Iranians who are protesting Ahmadinejad's presence at the Cup. More than 1,000 attended the demonstrations.

Now, I actually watched part of the Iran-Mexico match, and quickly found myself rooting for the Mexicans, but at the same time worried about those Iranian players. Would they face harsh repercussions if they lost at the World Cup? They're pawns for the mullahs - and while they were doing their best, and best to avoid political discussions, the mullahs sure can't be happy about the loss.

UPDATE:
Apparently even casual watching of the World Cup is illegal under Islamic law. Riots ensued when an Islamic Court in Somolia tried to enforce the no-watch edict. Two people were killed and gunmen were roaming the streets ready to enforce swift and harsh justice on anyone trying to catch a glimpse of the World Cup.

The gunmen loyal to the Joint Islamic Courts (JIC), cut electricity, cleared cinema halls and warned residents against watching the football tournament in areas they control, forcing a violent protest late on Saturday in which two people were killed, residents said Sunday.

The JIC deputy chairman AbdulKadir Ali Omar said the Islamic tribunals would crackdown on halls that defy the order to show western films and video, including the World Cup.

"This is war against all people who show films that promote pornography, drug dealing and all forms of evil," Omar told AFP.

"We shall not even allow the showing of the World Cup because they corrupt the morals of our children whom we endeavour to teach the Islamic way of life," he added.

Islamic courts officials said they were against some elements of World Cup, notably the advertisements for alcohol.

On Sunday, residents said Islamic gunmen were roaming in Sukahola and Huriwa neighbourhoods in northern Mogadishu to ensure that the ban was enforced.

A strict interpretation of Islamic teachings often bans Western films and television as immoral.

"The Islamic courts have ordered the closure of three cinema halls," said Sukahola resident Abdulaziz Hanad told AFP. "They want to make sure that nobody in Mogadishu watches the World Cup."

"Since the Islamic courts took control of Mogadishu, we knew they would not allow us to watch football," said a dejected Dahir Abubakar Hassan, a resident of northern Mogadishu.