FIFA asks Iran to clarify reports national team players punished for supporting opposition
By APThursday, June 25, 2009
FIFA asks Iran to clarify reports players punished
GENEVA — FIFA has asked Iran’s soccer federation to respond to reports that players have been punished for supporting the political opposition.
World soccer’s governing said in a statement on Thursday that it had written to the Iranian federation asking for information.
Several team members wore green wrist bands in an apparent show of support for defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi during the first half of a World Cup qualifying match against South Korea in Seoul on June 17.
Iran’s ISNA news agency said players Mehdi Mahdavikia and Ali Karimi have since resigned from the team.
But Britain’s Guardian newspaper and others have reported that as many as four players were permanently banned from the team by government officials.
