Iran has once again been accused of using male players in its women’s football team and this time the team’s goalkeeper is the target.
Jordanian officials recently called on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to investigate and determine the sex of the Iranian team’s goalkeeper. The call came after a recent penalty shootout to their Iranian rivals in a women’s football match.
After a goalless draw on September 25, the Iranian and Jordanian women’s football teams went to a penalty shootout to determine who would qualify to the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup. The Jordanians were the favourites, but the Iranian goalkeeper shattered their dreams. Zohreh Koudae saved two penalties, securing her team a 4-2 shootout victory and the first-ever appearance at the Women’s Asian Cup.
Iranian women's football team won against its Jordan opponent and reached the final of the Asian Cup qualifiers. Iranian goalkeeper, Ms. Zohreh khodaei, really shined in this game.🌸🏵️🙏🙏🙏🙏💖❤️#Iran pic.twitter.com/Bf9xcbn8Gm
— 🇮🇷Somayeh (@SomayehFarsIran) November 17, 2021
The story doesn’t end here. Jordanian officials have since called on the Asian Football Confederation to investigate whether the Iranian goalkeeper is actually a woman.
The President of Jordan’s Football Association, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, recently tweeted an official letter to the AFC requesting a gender verification check on Zohreh Koudae, suggesting that the keeper was a man posing as a woman. Jordan alleged that Iran has a history of gender and doping issues and demanded that the AFC “please wake up”.
Iranian officials, on the other hand, dismissed the allegations regarding Koudae’s gender as bad sportsmanship and a simple excuse for losing a match in which Jordan was the heavy favourite. The women’s football team coach, Maryam Irandoost, told fans not to worry, as the accusations don’t have any legs to stand on.
“The medical staff has carefully examined each player on the national team in terms of hormones to avoid any problems in this regard, and so I tell all fans not to worry,” Irandoost said. “We will provide any documentation that the Asian Confederation of Football wishes without wasting time. These allegations are just an excuse not to accept the defeat against the Iranian women’s national team.”
Iran has been accused of using male players in its women’s football team before. Questions were raised about the gender of the national team’s goalkeeper in 2010 as well, and in 2015, no less than eight players in the Iran women’s football team were alleged to be men waiting to get gender reassignment operations.
‘I Am A Woman. This Is Bullying’
Iran women’s goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei has accused the Jordanian FA of “bullying” after they called for the Asian Football Confederation [AFC] to conduct a ‘gender verification check’ following a game.
Koudaei has since denied the claims against her, saying she will now take legal action against the Jordan FA. In an interview with Turkish publication Hurriyet, she said: “I am a woman. This is bullying from Jordan. I will sue the Jordan FA.”
