Jermaine Jenas has slammed the decision of the Iranian physios to leave goalkeeper Alireza Beyranvand on the field after a sickening clash of heads in the opening exchanges of their World Cup match against England.
In the eighth minute of the Group B opener, Beyranvand was at full stretch as he looked to intercept a cross from England captain Harry Kane, but ended up colliding with defender Majid Hosseini.
Both players went down immediately, with Beyranvand left sprawled out on the turf and receiving 11 minutes of medical treatment from the team's physios as the match was halted.
GRAB YOUR COPY: Get your brilliant 48-page Wales at the World Cup preview special
While it looked obvious that the clearly dazed goalkeeper could not continue, the decision was made that he would stay on the pitch, with a splash of water to the face apparently doing the trick.
Former England international Jermaine Jenas was outraged by the call, saying it seemed like the Iranian stopper was "being forced" to stay on the field. Commentator Guy Mowbray agreed that it was "not a good look" for football, adding that Beyranvand "didn't look right".
"He's clearly not in a good place," said Jenas. "It's almost like he's being forced to stay on. It's the responsibility of the medical team to make the call, make the decision.
"We're at a major tournament in 2022, constantly talking about concussion in the game and the long term effect it's had on players with dementia and stuff. It's out of order."
Common sense did eventually prevail shortly after he was left on the field to take a goal kick, Beyranvand signalled to the bench that he would need to come off. He was carried off by a stretcher and was replaced by Seyed Hosseini.
READ NEXT:
