Sport

Iranwire – Iran defeated the United Arab Emirates 2-0 in a World Cup qualifying match on Thursday that was interrupted by a 30-minute power outage at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium. The floodlights partially failed during the first half, forcing the South Korean referee to stop play and send both teams to their locker rooms. Stadium officials blamed the blackout on rainfall. …

iranintl – Iran’s judiciary announced that two female spectators have been arrested during a football match at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium as the government’s push to ban women from games continues. The judiciary said the women were detained during a domestic match between Persepolis and Tractor FC for allegedly engaging in “immoral behavior ” but did not specify details or the …

Iranwire – Iran’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs has received orders to remove Olympic medalist Nahid Kiani from international competition after she was photographed embracing former Iranian athlete Kimia Alizadeh at the 2024 Paris Olympics, IranWire has learned. The IRGC Intelligence Organization issued a directive mandating Kiani’s replacement with Mobina Nematzadeh, a taekwondo athlete known for her pro-government stance. Sources say …

Iranwire – The roar of the crowd was different that day. No deep masculine voices, no thundering male chants – instead, a symphony of feminine energy filled Naqsh-e-Jahan Stadium in central Isfahan. On Monday, over 30,000 women turned the stadium into a symbol of defiance and their presence was stronger than any goal or tackle. Sepahan FC and Persepolis FC …

Iranwire – Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a political prisoner and former boxing champion held in Mashhad’s Vakilabad prison, has been sentenced to death for the third time, his lawyer, Babak Paknia, announced. “Despite the Supreme Court’s overturning of the previous verdict, the majority opinion of the investigative judges (consultants to the Branch 3 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court), in opposition …

iranintl – Amid the two countries’ shadow war, Iran’s Supreme Leader has once again reaffirmed his ban on competing against Israeli athletes, but offered incentives through compensation to ensure compliance. In a Tuesday address to the country’s Olympic and Paralympic teams, Khamenei called on officials to compensate athletes who withdraw from matches against Israel, describing it as a “sacrifice” for …

Iran-HRM – In the early morning of Wednesday, September 11, 2024, the death sentence of Morteza Yousefi, a 41-year-old prisoner from Sangtajen village in Nowshahr, was carried out in Nowshahr Central Prison. According to reports received by the Iran Human Rights Monitor (IranHRM), Morteza Yousefi was a graduate in physical education and a former champion of Iranian wrestling. He was …

Iranwire – Iran has overturned the death sentence initially handed down to a football coach accused of sexually harassing multiple teenage students. The Islamic Republic’s judicial system has revised the sentence to lashing and exile. The case began in 2021 when a father approached the police with his teenage son, filing a complaint of sexual harassment against the boy’s football …

Iranwire – Isa Golmohammadi, the spokesman for Iran’s boxing federation, was murdered and found dead in his private garden in the Robat Karim district of Tehran. “My father was shot 11 times and suffered five stab wounds,” his son told Tasnim news agency. The motivation behind the murder remains unclear, and aspects of the case are currently under investigation by …

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic’s authorities dismissed a member of Iran’s national bodybuilding team after he presented his championship medal to his girlfriend. Reza Hajjar, Iran’s bodybuilding champion, revealed in a video message that he was removed from the national team due to his use of the term “girlfriend.” As a result, he now has to fund his international trips …