TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has banned soccer players from sporting camel tails ponytails and sculpted beards as part of a campaign to prevent the spread of Western culture in the Islamic state, a soccer federation official says.| "Ewww, icky. Infidel icky." |
The federation said on Thursday those who defied the order ran the risk of being banned from the game. "Soccer players with ponytails, hair-band and sculpted beards will be banned from playing or will be fined," Navid Majd, head of the federation's public relations office, told Reuters. The ban does not apply to long hair. "The Prophet Mohammad had long hair. We have no problem with it," Majd said.
Aren't they talking out of both sides of their turbans? Maybe I missed something, but don't you kinda need long hair to make a ponytail?
Some newspapers reported recently that at least two soccer players in the Iranian professional league had received warnings because of their "inappropriate" hair style. But Majd denied it. Many Iranians are obsessed with soccer, and soccer players are considered role models for younger fans. "We should respect our culture, especially our sportsmen," Majd said. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, conservatives have continually tried to hold back the tide of Western cultural influence and keep the population compliantly under the thumb of the mullahs promote Islamic values. A crowd of 110,000 watched a match between Iran and Germany in Tehran earlier this month. Iranian women were not allowed to see the match after the football federation upheld a ban on them entering stadiums even though women are the Islamic country's most passionate fans. |