A group of Iranian sports individuals have called on FIFA to ban Wales' opponents Iran from the upcoming World Cup over the country's treatment of women.
Via a Spain-based law firm, a formal request has been sent to the governing body and its president, Gianni Infantino, to immediately suspend the Iranian Football Association over what they describe as "Iran's brutality and belligerence towards its own people".
In Iran women are not allowed to attend football matches. There are rapidly growing demands for increased rights for women within the country while many are also calling for the government to be overthrown after 43 years in power amid widespread discontent in the country.
Iran have been drawn to face Wales, England and the USA at the tournament in Qatar, which starts a month today.
In the petition, it says: "Iran's brutality and belligerence towards its own people has reached a tipping point, demanding an unequivocal and firm dissociation from the footballing and sports world. FIFA's historical abstinence from political quagmires has often been tolerated when these situations do not metastasize into the footballing sphere.
"The situation for women in Iran is deeply unpalatable in the broader political and socio-economic framework. Tragically, the same evils and wrongs are perpetuated within the football sphere, effectively meaning that football, which should be a safe place for everyone, is not a safe space for women or even men. Women have been consistently denied access to stadia across the country and systematically excluded from the football ecosystem in Iran, which sharply contradicts FIFA's values and statutes."
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In the document, the group have also cited the precedents which saw the suspensions of the Football Association of Kuwait and the Indian FA in the past.
It concludes: "FIFA must choose a side. Neutrality from FIFA is not an option, given that the Iranian FA has not been neutral but has been mobilized to entrench the oppression and systematic exclusion of women in the sports ecosystem.
"Beyond women, the Iranian government has also stifled the voices of several athletes in the country and impeded their rights to speak up in the face if the evil on display. National team players like Hossein Mahini, Aref Gholami and the prominent former players like Ali Karimi and Ali Daei, have been targets of imprisonment, harassment or threats from the government. It is time for FIFA to take action; enough is enough."
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