Daily Mail: Iranian World Cup Footballer Accused of Harassing 14-Year-Old Girl in Turkey

The Daily Mail newspaper has reported that an international footballer, during a football team’s stay at a five-star hotel in Turkey, was accused of approaching a 14-year-old British girl and attempting to take her away with him for what was described as “a hug behind a hedge.”

According to the report, the girl’s father said the incident occurred while his 14-year-old daughter was by the hotel pool with her 10-year-old sister. He said that after the incident, his daughter contacted the family in tears and pleaded with them to return to the location immediately.

The Daily Mail wrote that after the footballer approached her, the girl asked to take a souvenir photograph. According to the family, after taking the photo, the player took the girl’s mobile phone, entered his own Instagram account details into it, and sent a message to himself from the girl’s account.

The Daily Mail report did not publish the name of the player or his team. However, after the publication of the report, some media outlets and social media users claimed that the individual in question is a player on Iran’s national football team; a claim that has not yet been independently verified by the police, judicial authorities, the Football Federation of Iran, or the media outlet that published the report.