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Iran has banned four of its finest soccer players from the national team as punishment for wearing protest wristbands in a World Cup qualifying match in South Korea last week.As I wrote last week, the players wore green wristbands in their game against the South Koreans. Green represents support for opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, whom protesters believe is the rightful winner of Iran's election.
From the Guardian:
According to the pro-government newspaper Iran, four players – Ali Karimi, 31, Mehdi Mahdavikia, 32, Hosein Ka'abi, 24 and Vahid Hashemian, 32 – have been "retired" from the sport after their gesture in last Wednesday's match against South Korea in Seoul.
They were among six players who took to the field wearing wristbands in the colour of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, which has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the 12 June election was stolen.
They were among six players who took to the field wearing wristbands in the colour of the defeated opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, which has been adopted by demonstrators who believe the 12 June election was stolen.
Most of the players obeyed instructions to remove the armwear at half-time, but Mahdavikia wore his green captain's armband for the entire match. The four are also said to have been banned from giving media interviews.
The fate of the other two players who wore the wristbands is unknown. None of the team members were given back their passports upon returning to Tehran after the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw – a result that ended Iran's hopes of qualifying for next year's tournament.
The term Iranian government officials are using is "retired."Mohsen Safaei Farahani, Federation Internationale de Football Association Football Committee member and former leader of the Iranian Football Federation, was accused by pro-Ahmadinejad Web site Hezbollah of having bribed the players to wear the wristbands, according to the Guardian
. Farahani has since been arrested and thrown in jail with other outspoken opposition followers and journalists.
In the wake of the 2006 World Cup, Iran was temporarily banned from international competition by FIFA for alleged interference by the government. Germans called for current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be banned from their country during the 2006 Cup after he questioned whether the Holocaust occurred.
A soccer fan, Ahmadinejad reportedly fired the national team coach after the team lost to Saudi Arabia.
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