Sport

Radiofarda – In a new letter addressed to the Islamic Republic authorities the international soccer body FIFA says Iranian women have to be allowed to enter all football stadiums across the country to watch men’s matches. According to the local news websites, “House of Football” and “Mashreq News,” in the letter FIFA has stressed that the Football Federation of the …

radiofarda – The Chairman of Iran’s Olympic Committee says “protest migration” of Iranian athletes and elite is “extremely worrying” and a “serious challenge to the country at present and in the future”. In a note published on the website of Iran’s National Olympic Committee on February 2, Reza Salehi-Amiri said emigration is a “social thermometer” and reveals the inadequacies and …

Radiofarda – After days of defiant statements, Iranian officials have relented to a decision by the Asian Football Federation to send their teams to “neutral” counties for championship games, following the downing of a Ukrainian airliner earlier this month. Leaving aside their initial threat to boycott the Asian Champions League, Iranians backed down yesterday and declared that they had reached …

Al-Monitor – Adel Ferdosipour, one of Iran’s most popular sports hosts, has flexed his muscles against Iran’s hard-liner-controlled state TV by launching a new show on the internet.  Ferdosipour, chosen as one of “the 20 most powerful people in Iran” by Newsweek in 2009, had been a permanent fixture on Iran’s state TV for two decades. Twenty years ago, he kicked off his career with a …

PayvandNews – Female sprinter Farzaneh Fasihi, dubbed the Wind Girl, comes close to fulfilling her dream of reaching the Olympic Games. Fasihi has recently secured her place at the 2020 World Athletics Indoor Championships, running 7.29 second time in the 60 meters event. She has become the first Iranian woman to participate at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. Iranian sprinter …

rferl.org – Iranian teams have been banned from playing international matches on Iranian soil, the Islamic republic’s football federation said on January 17. It said the decision was made by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and announced in a letter. Iranian football officials did not say if the decision was related to the accidental shoot-down of a Ukrainian jetliner last …

RFL/RE – Kimia Alizadeh, Iran’s only female Olympic medalist, says she has permanently left the country, decrying what she called the “injustice” and “hypocrisy” of an Iranian political system that uses and humiliates athletes for political purposes. “Should I start with hello, goodbye, or condolences?” she wrote on Instagram on January 11.The 21-year-old Alizadeh, who won a bronze medal in taekwondo at …

RFL/RE – Alireza Firouzja, a top-rated chess player from Iran and the world’s No. 2 ranked junior player, has won the silver medal at the World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championship in Moscow after competing under the flag of the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Firouzja, 16, had decided not to play for his country in an apparent reaction to the …

PayvandNews – Iran’s women’s team made history by winning the 2019 World Alysh (Belt Wrestling) Championships for the first time on Monday. Team Melli claimed the title with 93 points, followed by Kyrgyz Republic (89) and Kazakhstan (63).  The Iranian women won three medals in the competition. Iran’s women Alysh team Hanieh Ashouri seized a gold medal at the +75kg …

Radiofarda – Iran’s notorious riot police known as the Special Unit rushed in on Wednesday to disperse angry football (soccer) fans outside the headquarters of Esteghlal Football club in Tehran. The fans were chanting slogans against the club officials and the sports minister for failing to return Andrea Stramacchioni, the Italian coach of the team, who quit and left the …