Iran’s football team refused to sing their national anthem at their opening World Cup game against England on Monday, a gesture widely seen as a pledge of support for anti-government protests back home. The squad, known as Team Melli, has been at the center of criticism and controversy over participation in the tournament and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had earlier warned athletes not to “disrespect” the country. The team remained silent throughout the playing of Iran’s national anthem. During the match fans could at times be heard shouting “shameless! shameless!” in Persian at the players. The side went on to suffer their biggest ever defeat in a World Cup match, losing 6-2 to England. In Tehran, anti-government chants and slogans including “death to the dictator” could be heard in one central district of the capital toward the end of the match. A dissident media channel on Telegram said people had also taken to the streets in the areas of Yusufabad and Pasdaran to cheer the team’s loss. Bloomberg is unable to verify the reports. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake