Soccer woman storms onto the field
Iran’s national goalkeeper fined for hugging him by a supporter
As of: 9:20 p.m. | Reading time: 2 minutes
Iran’s national goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini
Quelle: picture alliance/Hasan Bratic
Shortly before the end of a game in Iran, a female fan storms onto the pitch and hugs the goalkeeper. As a result, he will now receive a ban and a fine. After the game, the keeper justifies himself.
Iran’s national soccer goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini has been suspended for one game after hugging a supporter. The disciplinary committee of the Iranian association (FFI) also imposed a fine of three billion rials, the equivalent of almost 7,000 euros, on Wednesday evening, as the football portal “Varzesh3” reported.
The background to the FFI’s unusual decision was the first division game Esteghlal Teheran against Aluminum Arak last Friday. Since a limited number of women have been allowed in football stadiums in Iran for several weeks, there were hundreds of female fans in the stadium for this game. Shortly before the end of the game, one of the supporters stormed onto the field and hugged Esteghlal goalkeeper Hosseini. In Iran it is generally forbidden to touch women who are not members of the immediate family.
“What should I have done, she just hugged me,” Hosseini said after the game. The goalkeeper said he was surprised and was simply trying to prevent the groundskeepers from using violence against the young woman.
For the first time, a woman storms onto the pitch in Iran
It was the first time in Iranian football history that a female fan stormed onto the field as a speedster and the football association made such a decision against a player. However, observers assumed that the ban and fine against the 31-year-old national goalkeeper would trigger harsh protests in Iran and that this could lead to the association’s decision being revised.
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31-year-old Hossein Hosseini has been playing for Esteghlal Tehran since 2014. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he stood between the posts for Iran and secured his team victory in a sensational 2-0 win against Wales. In total, Hossein played twelve times for Iran.
