LONDON: An Iranian TV channel covering the Champions League last-16 game between Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday was singled out on social media for censoring the badge of the Premier League club.
The state-run channel decided against using the club’s current badge, which has been in use since 1998 and includes a red devil in the middle — a nod to the club’s “Red Devils” nickname.
Instead, they decided to use a version from 1970-1973, which has part of the city of Manchester’s coat of arms.
Because the current United logo features a “mythical creature,” which is against the law in Iran, it had to be changed.
That did not stop eagle-eyed social media users pointing out the choice of logo.
Iran’s official television...
We are sorry...pic.twitter.com/W5spyupkEt— خاکستر (@khakestarrrr) February 12, 2019
Check this out.
Iran's state TV just censored the devil in ManUtd's logo.@ManUtd pic.twitter.com/Mio6MogEOa— THE Masoud (@ElTigre_mas) February 12, 2019
حذف نشان شیطان از آرم باشگاه #منچستریونایتد در اخبار ورزشی شبکه سه#سانسور pic.twitter.com/EvamrSa92H
— ManotoNews (@ManotoNews) February 12, 2019
It is not the first time Iranian TV has come in for mockery for censoring club badges — Iranian state TV censored the logo of AS Roma during its coverage of their Champions League match against Barcelona last season.
The team from the Italian capital has a logo depicting Romulus and Remus — the mythical founders of the city — being suckled by the Capitoline Wolf, alluding to the creation of the city.
However, producers at Iran's Voice and Vision organisation showed the club's badge on screen with the wolf’s teats clearly blurred.
Roma's badge features a female wolf — an animal that like many others has teats. During last night's Champions League game between Roma and Barcelona an Iranian TV channel blurred out this outrageous display of public indecency.https://t.co/9v8OBj8bar pic.twitter.com/YEEQMhrLZz
— Alexander Smith (@AlexanderSmith) April 5, 2018
