Iranian footballer Hossein Hosseini has been suspended for hugging a fan who invaded the field of an Iranian league match between Esteghlal and Aluminum Arak to touch the goalkeeper.
At the end of the game played on April 12, a fan ran towards Hosseini but was stopped by police.
The goalkeeper noticed and hugged the young woman before being removed by security guards, police and military personnel amid protests from fans in the stands who shouted “shame” at the law enforcement officers.
The Islamic Republic of Iran prohibits a man from touching a woman outside the family circle.
The Khabar Varzeshi newspaper reports that the athlete was punished with a one-match ban and will pay a fine of about 4,400 euros for “bad behavior towards game security agents.”
After some 40 years of women’s absence from sporting venues, in 2019, under pressure from FIFA, women were able to return to football stadiums to watch the national team play, with female audiences allowed for the first time this season.
Later in the same game, another young woman received a T-shirt from footballer Esteghlal, who was left bare-chested, and then ran euphorically towards the small women-only stand.
Neither of the two young women who invaded the stadium were wearing a hijab, which was difficult to spot among the fans in the stands.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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