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Faezeh Hashemi: A Country that Kills its Citizens Cannot Host Football Matches

March 18, 2021
Payam Younesipour
5 min read
Faezeh Hashemi says the Islamic Republic's ongoing disregard for international laws and standards is to blame for the AFC's ban on Iran hosting football matches
Faezeh Hashemi says the Islamic Republic's ongoing disregard for international laws and standards is to blame for the AFC's ban on Iran hosting football matches
The execution of wrestler Navid Afkari last September drew international condemnation, including from the sports community
The execution of wrestler Navid Afkari last September drew international condemnation, including from the sports community
The political activist also cited growing tensions between Iran and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf as a potential reason for the ban
The political activist also cited growing tensions between Iran and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf as a potential reason for the ban

Faezeh Hashemi has spoken out about the Asian Football Confederation’s ban on Iranian football clubs hosting matches, saying the ongoing behaviour of the Islamic Republic is to blame.

In an audio file obtained by IranWire, the reformist ex-MP and daughter of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani says the principal reason for the decision is Iran’s “serious and reckless departure from international principles”.

In mid-January 2020, Iran’s Football Federation received an official letter from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) barring the country from hosting international matches. AFC stated that it would hold the Asian Soccer League Championship due to be hosted by Iran in 'neutral' countries instead.

The decision came within a week of the downing of Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 by two missiles fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and at a time of heightened tensions with the United States.

More than 12 months later, on Tuesday, March 16, Iranian media reported that AFC had declined an official request from the Iranian Football Federation to host international matches again. This time, the alleged reason for Iran's disqualification from hosting the AFC Champions League and the World Cup qualifiers was international sanctions.

An Iranian Sports Advocate’s Diagnosis

Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani has been one of the most influential political figures in Iranian sports over the past four decades. In the late 1980s during her father’s tenure as president, she founded the Islamic Federation of Women's Sport, and has continued to champion women’s sport in the country ever since.

In 2006, when FIFA suspended the Iranian Football Federation for what it called "direct political interference in football affairs", Faezeh Hashemi played a pivotal role alongside former vice-president Mostafa Hashemi-Taba and reformist Mohsen Safaei-Farahani in convincing FIFA to lift the suspension and establishing a transitional committee.

This week, after news of AFC’s response to the Iranian Football Federation broke, an audio file was sent to IranWire in which Faezeh Hashemi is heard stating: "The main reason we are at this point is the reckless and serious departure of the Islamic Republic from international principles. Today, our political behavior is a threat to the region."

In the recording, Faezeh Hashemi says that foreign football clubs and national teams planning going to travel to Iran are right to worry about the safety of their players and coaches. "The Islamic Republic's track record in arresting and taking foreign or dual-national citizens hostage has tarnished our image. Why shouldn’t Bahrainis worry? The other concerning thing is that the Islamic Republic defends these arrests, while to date, it has provided no evidence that such prisoners are guilty.”

In addition, Faezeh Hashemi says, Iran’s non-adherence to international law in financial matters makes it impossible for international teams to countenance playing there. "Iran does not pay for television broadcasting,” she says. “Even if it wants to pay for matches to be broadcast, it won’t be easy to obtain permission because of issues arising from Iran’s not committing to the FATF (Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering).

“We disregard the international framework and do not consider that a country's sports activities should follow on global economic and political standards. International bodies such as FIFA and the AFC can come to terms with Iran to some extent, but even if they wanted to, they could not support Iran's sports apparatus."

Another obstacle Faezeh Hashemi cites is the tense relations between the Islamic Republic and the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. "Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE do not have good relations with Iran,” she says. “At the same time, the recent missile strikes on Saudi Arabia have further aggravated their relations with the Islamic Republic. In these countries, the finger of blame – rightly or wrongly – is pointed at Iran."

There are other issues at stake, she goes on, beyond international relations. Iran’s discriminatory policies at home are unlikely to have escaped the attention of international sports institutions. "Iranian women are banned from entering stadiums,” she says. “We see daily news coverage around the world about the ban on Iranians competing with Israeli athletes, and the widespread emigration of members of the Iranian sports family."

Faezeh Hashemi also says that the state’s execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari in 2020, which drew international condemnation, had rightly stained the country’s reputation overseas. "When we do not have justice for ourselves at home, why do we expect the international community to be fair to us? The officials of the Islamic Republic think that because they can oppress the Iranian people, they also have the ability to coerce international institutions."

In Faezeh Hashemi’s assessment, the ban on international competitions being hosted by Iran cannot be viewed as separate from the country’s overall governance. “The rulers of the country have brought us to the point where they deprived us of so much as hosting sports competitions,” she says. “In some respects, I think we have overtaken North Korea.”

Elsewhere in the recording, the activist has a proposal for Iranian sports officials and policymakers. “Let us go back a little. Let us do a pathological examination of ourselves. It’s not about the government. The politics of the country is formulated elsewhere; members of the government are merely the executors and have no will of their own. We must heal our domestic and foreign policies if we expect respect from foreigners."

Related coverage:

Iranian Football Clubs Cannot Host Asian Teams Anymore

IranWire Exclusive: FIFA Suspends Iran's Membership

Iran's Football Association: Speaking About Suspension is Against Our National Interest

Iran Plans to Avoid Israeli Athletes by Any Means Necessary

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