Iranian football star under fire for hugging female fan

Iranian footballer Ramin Rezaeian has been summoned by the ethics committee of the Iranian Football Federation following an embrace with a female fan before a domestic league match, local media reported.  

The incident occurred on Thursday, prior to a match between Rezaeian’s team, Esteghlal, and Chadormalu in Yazd province.

The 34-year-old defender, who also represents Iran’s national team, hugged the fan, prompting the ethics body to take action, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Rezaeian, a seasoned player with over 60 international caps, has also played club football in Qatar and Belgium. As of now, the Iranian Football Federation has not issued an official statement regarding the matter.

The summoning reflects the strict social and ethical guidelines governing public interactions in Iranian sports, drawing attention to the challenges faced by players navigating cultural norms on and off the pitch.

According to Islamic law in Iran, which was enacted shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, men and women are banned from making any physical contact unless they are closely related.

Following the revolution, women were generally barred from attending football matches, but in August 2022 they were allowed into a championship match for the first time in more than 40 years.

In April, Hossein Hosseini, a goalkeeper for Esteghlal, was suspended after embracing a female supporter during a championship match.

The media said at the time that the football federation had fined the goalkeeper the equivalent of $4,700 and given him a one-match suspension for “bad behaviour towards security agents at the game”.