Pictures show how 31-year-old Hossein Hosseini, who plays for Esteghlal in the Iranian top league, is taken away by security guards after he hugged a woman who made her way down to the pitch.
The hug had consequences for Hosseini.
After the match, which took place the weekend before last, the Iranian league organization chose to suspend the goalkeeper for one match and fine him, with the justification that he acted unprofessionally, writes Iran International.
In Iran, it is forbidden to touch strangers of the opposite sex in public. The woman was also not wearing the obligatory hijab.
“Why be punished for a humane gesture?”
The suspension provoked reactions both internationally and in Iran.
– After all, under what law should you be forbidden to hug a 14-year-old girl who is a football fan? Why should a footballer be punished for such a humane gesture? said former international Mansour Rashidi.
In a television interview, Hossein Hosseini replied that he intended to pay the fine for the sake of the woman, which meant even more fines for the goalkeeper, according to the state news agency IRNA.
Iran is a country with a lack of gender equality. For example, until recently it was forbidden for women to attend football or other live sports.
