A player who has played 65 games for Iran is on the verge of being severely punished for hugging a woman before a league game in his country.
The player in question is Ramin Rezaian, who plays for Iran's prestigious estegral.
According to AFP on the 28th (Korea Standard Time), the Iranian Football Federation's ethics committee decided to summon Rezaian for committing unhealthy behavior before the game.
Rezaian hugged fans just before Iran's 1st Division away match against Chador Maru in Yazd Province, central Iran, on the 26th, including female fans. AFP said, "Iran is prohibited from making any physical contact between men and women who are not close relatives after the 1979 Islamic Revolution."
In fact, female soccer fans have been banned from watching soccer matches in Iran for a long time since the Islamic Revolution. Not long ago, when the Korean national team had an A-match with Iran at the Azadi National Stadium, which is called the tomb of the away team, only 100 percent of the male players participated in the match, listening to Iranian spectators' energetic cheering sound.
Since then, female fans have been allowed to enter from the A match, and women's admission to professional soccer games was allowed two years ago.
In August 2022, women were allowed to enter domestic league stadiums for the first time in 40 years, but physical contact between men and women is being thoroughly cracked down.
In some cases, another Iranian national team player has already been punished for the same reason.
In April, Hossein Hosseini, who also has 11 A-match experience as an Estegral goalkeeper like Rezaian, was suspended for one game and fined about 7 million won for hugging a female supporter during a league game. The disciplinary name was "inappropriate behavior with the staff." 스포츠토토
Rezaian is also expected to be suspended and fined a large amount due to similar issues.
However, AFP said, "The Iranian Football Federation has not made any comment on the matter."
Rezaian was born in 1990 and was once a center back representing the Iranian defensive line.
While playing in Iran, he began his overseas career with Belgian club KV Oestend in 2017 and played for Qatar clubs such as al-Sahaniah, al-Duhail and al-Sailiya from 2018 to 2022. He has played well for the national team and is gaining considerable popularity in Iran due to his good communication with fans in league games.