Iran’s theocratic regime has summoned a famous footballer over a ‘hug’with a female fan. Footage allegedly showed Ramin Rezaian, defender at the Tehran-based Esteghlal, the oldest professional football club in Iran, embracing with a supporter in front of the team bus.
Iran’s Islamic law, in effect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, bans men and women who are not related from making any physical contact. Until a year ago, women were also not allowed to watch football from the stadiums. The Iranian Tasnim news agency reported that Rezaeian encountered the fan when the players were on the bus transporting them.
The 34-year-old will now have to appear before the ethics committee and explain the incident. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. It reportedly happened on Thursday, before Esteghlal’s match against Chadormalu in the central Yazd province.
This is not the first time disciplinary action has been taken over such an incident. In April, Esteghlal goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini was suspended for also embracing a female fan during a championship match. He was slapped with a hefty fine of three billion Iranian rials and a one-game suspension.
Under the theocratic regime led by the Supreme Leader, women’s struggle has only worsened in 2024. Earlier in December, authorities adopted a new draconian law that further erases their human rights, imposing the death penalty, flogging, jail terms and other severe penalties to crush the ongoing resistance to compulsory veiling, for example.
