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Group of prominent Iranian sports figures calls on FIFA to ban Iranian Football Federation from World Cup
Tuesday 1 November 2022, by
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Source:CNN, oct 19, 2022
Group of prominent Iranian sports figures calls on FIFA to ban Iranian Football Federation from World Cup
( see CNN By Wayne Sterling, CNN / October 19, 2022 & enclosed letter]
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/19/football/iran-fifa-world-cup-football-spt-intl/index.html
A law firm has sent a letter to FIFA on behalf of a group of former and current Iranian sports figures urging football’s governing body to suspend the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) and ban it from participating at this year’s World Cup in Qatar. The letter sent by the Spanish law firm Ruiz-Huerta and Crespo is signed by, among others, Mohammad Reza Faghani, a FIFA-licensed referee, Vahid Sarlak, Asian Judo champion and Iran National Team member, and Shiva Amini, former National Women’s Futsal Team playe. The World Cup takes place from November 20 to December 18. Iran faces England in its first match of football’s flagship event on November 21, followed by a game against Wales on November 25. The nation is also set to face the United States in its third and final group stage match on November 29.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/19/football/iran-fifa-world-cup-football-spt-intl/index.html
Excerpts from the letter
“Iran’s brutality and belligerence towards its own people has reached a tipping point, demanding an unequivocal and firm disassociation from the footballing and sports world,” a press released issued alongside the letter reads.
“Women have been consistently denied access to stadia across the country and systematically excluded from the football ecosystem in Iran, which sharply contrasts with FIFA’s values and statutes.”If women are not allowed into stadia across the country, and the Iranian Football Federation is simply following and enforcing governmental guidelines, they cannot be seen as an independent organisation and free from any form or kind of influence. This is a violation of (Article 19) of FIFA’s statutes.
“The FIFA Council can and must immediately suspend Iran.”FIFA shouldn’t allow participation by a country that is actively persecuting its women, athletes and children only for their exercising their most basic human rights."
