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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Sport

Death threats, interrogation: Why football referee Mahsa Ghorbani left Iran

Mahsa Gorbani working as an international football referee [Courtesy: Mahsa Gorbani]

For years, Iran’s Mahsa Ghorbani, a pioneering women’s football referee, stood resiliently against social and government restrictions, until she no longer could, and left her home country for Sweden in December.

Born in 1989, Ghorbani’s first experience as an Asian football referee was at the under-14 tournaments. In 2017 she was recognized by FIFA as an elite international referee.

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