 "Watch: Iranian footballer fined and suspended for hugging female fan")
A goalkeeper with one of Iran’s top football clubs has been suspended after he hugged a female supporter during a championship match, sports daily Khabar Varzeshi reported.
Hossein Hosseini, 31, who plays for Tehran-based Esteghlal, was suspended after the incident on 12 April.
The Esteghlal fan rushed onto the field despite the stadium security trying to detain her. Hosseini approached the woman while security staff were trying to keep her back and briefly embraced her into his arms. He was immediately roughed up by the security and pushed off the field.
🇮🇷 | ¡INSÓLITO! El portero iraní Hossein Hosseini fue suspendido por la Federación de Fútbol de su país, después de que le diera un abrazo a una mujer en un partido de liga: también deberá pagar una multa equivalente a 4.700 dólares.
— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) April 23, 2024
La República Islámica prohíbe que los hombres… pic.twitter.com/W85M0wEPGY
The media outlet claimed Iran’s football federation fined the goalkeeper $4,700 and handed him a one-match suspension for “bad behaviour towards security agents at the game”.
Women were mostly barred from attending football matches in Iran following the 1979 Islamic revolution, but that changed in August 2022 when they were allowed into a championship match for the first time in more than 40 years.
After Hossein Hosseini, the captain of the Taj (Esteghlal) team, embraced a female 'Jimmy Jump' at the end of the soccer match between Aluminum Arak and Taj (Esteghlal), a security personnel present at the Stadium attacked him. pic.twitter.com/Xjq4K4PRYj
— Turquoise Women of Iran زنان فیروزهای (@ZananFirouzehie) April 14, 2024
Hosseini has spent most of his footballing career at Esteghlal, one of the most popular clubs in the country.
He played for Iran in a 2022 FIFA World Cup match against England after the first-choice goalkeeper was injured.
Esteghlal, nicknamed “The Blues”, are currently top of the Iranian league with just six matches to go.
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