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Iran drops two soccer stars from national team for playing against Israel’s Maccabi
[IsraelTimes] Iran drops midfield duo Haji Safi and Masoud Shojaei from the national team after they play in a soccer match against Maccabi Tel Aviv for their Greek club Panionios last week, the Iranian sports ministry says.Deputy Sports Minister Mohammad Reza Davarzani says they could no longer wear the national shirt after they played against the Israeli club in the Europa League third qualifying round second leg in Greece. "Shojaei and Haji Safi have no place in Iran’s national football team any more because they crossed the country’s red line," Davarzani tells state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? . "They have a financial contract with a club to be paid and play for that team, but to play with the representative of a loathsome regime... this is not acceptable for Iranian people." The two players had refused to play in the away leg in Israel despite facing "pressure" and "financial fines" from their club, the sports ministry says. But they played in the second leg in Greece on August 4. Panionios lost 0-1 and 0-2 on aggregate.
On Twitter, under the hashtag #NoBan4OurPlayers, a user under the handle of Ajib Zade wrote that "players should be free to choose who to play against." But Vali Nasr, a well-known Iran-born Middle East analyst and scholar, argued the Iranian players were actually bound contractually to play against the Israeli athletes as part of their engagement for the Greek team, and therefore should not be punished by Iran. "Professional soccer players are not sovereign actors but employees of their clubs," he wrote on Twitter. Mahbod Ba, a Twitter user described as a Tehran-based art scholar, was among thousands that tagged FIFA on the social network requesting it "ban the Iranian national team" in response to the ban imposed on the two soccer stars. Posted by: trailing wife 2017-08-11 |
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