Sports should be a celebration of freedom, joy, and human expression. But when the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) caved to pressure from Tehran and deleted a video of Iranian women dancing, it sent the wrong message.
The clip, which showed young Iranian women dancing at a FIBA event, was a rare glimpse of unapologetic female expression in a country where women’s rights are constantly under attack. Instead of standing by these athletes, FIBA chose to erase their moment of joy—likely to avoid political backlash.
This isn’t just about a deleted video. It’s about the silencing of women under oppressive regimes. Iran has a long history of restricting women’s freedoms, from mandatory hijab laws to banning them from stadiums. When international organizations like FIBA bend to these demands, they become complicit in that oppression.
Sports federations should be platforms for equality, not tools for censorship. If FIBA truly supports women in sports, it needs to stand firm against authoritarian pressure—not erase their voices when it’s politically inconvenient.
The world is watching. And right now, FIBA is failing.
