Incident in Iran
Professional footballer hugs female fan – and has to pay a fine
January 2, 2025 – 5:25 p.mReading time: 1 min.
A footballer from Iran hugs a fan. But that’s a problem in his home country because it was a female fan. Now he is being punished.
That’s an expensive hug: professional soccer player Ramin Rezaeian has to pay a fine of 510 million Iranian riyals. That’s the equivalent of around 11,750 euros. Rezaeian hugged a female supporter before a game between his club Esteghlal Tehran and Chadormalu in Yazd province and was subsequently summoned by the Iranian Football Ethics Committee.
The background to the investigation is a law that has been in force since the Islamic revolution in 1979 and prohibits unrelated men and women from any physical contact. Although women have been allowed to attend football games again to a limited extent since 2022, strict rules remain in place.
Rezaeian’s case is not the first of its kind. In April, Esteghlal goalkeeper Hossein Hosseini was suspended and fined the equivalent of $4,700 after he also hugged a female fan.