Sport

Iranwire – Iranian football star Ali Karimi has asked members of Iran’s national football team to “choose the right side of history” after a government official suggested on Sunday that athletes who refuse to sing the national anthem should be cut from their teams. Iran’s national volleyball team has become the latest group of Iranian athletes to decline to sing …

Iranwire – The manager of Iran’s national football team is under pressure to remove the team’s striker ahead of the World Cup in Qatar for voicing his support for the protesters, IranWire reports.  Carlos Queiroz has been under pressure from the Ministry of Sport to remove Sardar Azmoun, the team’s striker. The head of Iran’s football federation has also asked the …

Iranwire – Iran’s national sitting volleyball team has become the latest group of Iranian athletes that has declined to sing the national anthem before or after a match, in a show of defiance against a clerical regime that has been facing nationwide protests for weeks. Iran’s men’s sitting volleyball team won the world championship for the eighth time on November …

Iranwire – Iranian state media have published the photos, names and addresses of nine exiled reporters who are set to cover the 2022 World Cup starting later this month in Qatar, warning them it would be their “last supper.” The named journalists are living abroad and are working for the BBC Persian Service, Iran International and Manoto, three London-based Persian-language …

Iranwire – The 2022 FIFA World Cup will kick off in Qatar on November 20 with a match between the Qatar and Ecuador. The world of sports usually views the upcoming tournament as one of the most important international sports events, but for Iranians the situation is noticeably different from before. Like everything else in the society, from the economy …

Iranwire – The Iranian athlete who made history after appearing without a hijab at an international sports competition was questioned by two of Iran’s political and sports institutions, IranWire can reveal, when she returned to the country today. Friends of the athlete have also told IranWire that she has not answered their calls since returning to Iran early this morning …

CHRI – Climbing organizations and professionals, as well as the international community, should stand with professional climber Elnaz Rekabi, who is under extreme pressure by the Iranian government to cover up her heroic act of competing without a hijab earlier this week, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a statement today. “While she was scaling that …

Iranwire – Elnaz Rekab, who did not wear a hijab at an international sports competition and was tricked into entering the Iranian embassy in Seoul, South Korea, was due to arrived in Tehran at 330am Wednesday morning, IranWire can report.  She reportedly departed the Qatari capital of Doha after midnight yesterday on flight QR490 to Tehran. Her family, meanwhile, had …

VOA – Elnaz Rekabi, who competed in the Asian rock climbing championships in South Korea without the hijab required of Iranian female athletes, arrived in Tehran to a throng of supporters and fans on Wednesday morning, amid concerns that she would be arrested and banned from leaving. Elnaz Rekabi received global headlines after she participated in the International Federation of …

VOA —The fate of a top Iranian female athlete was unclear Tuesday after she competed in an international rock-climbing competition in South Korea without wearing the head covering mandated by her country’s government. Elnaz Rekabi received global headlines after she participated in the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) Asian Championships in Seoul with her hair tied back in a …