Football governing body FIFA is allowed to ban the former Iranian flag at World Cup matches, a Los Angeles court ruled on Monday, according to sports portal The Athletic.
The flag - official in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution - is considered a symbol of the Iranian opposition, which has been pushing for a change in government in Tehran even before the war with the US and Israel.
The Institute for Voice of Liberty, a pressure group for Iranians abroad, filed a lawsuit against FIFA's ban on the historic Iranian flag featuring a lion and a sun. But the judge said freedom of speech rules were limited in "private" environments.
In recent weeks, Iran has insisted that FIFA must ensure there are no political messages at matches and that the official flag of the Islamic Republic, not the opposition's flag, is flown.
"We have already informed FIFA that the team's officials would abandon the match as soon as we hear political slogans in the stadiums," Sports Minister Ahmed Donyamali warned.
