Iranian soccer goalie is male, accuses Jordan

In Jordan, a controversy erupted over a women's football match last September between the Jordanian team and the Iranian team.

AFP / Archives

Text by: Hermine Le Clech

3 min

In Jordan, a controversy erupted over a women's football match last September between the Jordanian team and the Iranian team.

The reason: The Jordanian Football Federation accuses one of the Iranian players of actually being a man.

This would call into question the outcome of the match where Jordan lost 4-2 and was disqualified for the Asian Cup which is due to open on January 20. 

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From our correspondent in Amman

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On Sunday, the president of the Jordanian Football Federation, Prince Ali Ben al-Hussein, therefore asked the Asian Football Confederation to open an investigation to determine the gender of the player, and this a month and a half after the match. in question.

But it is no coincidence that Jordan is attacking this team and this game in particular.

Since it was during this meeting that the Jordanian team lost all its chances of qualifying for the Women's Asian Cup.

No relevance to previous tweets but it's a very serious issue if true.

Please wake up @theafcdotcom pic.twitter.com/egk678CXCX

- Ali Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) November 13, 2021

Asian Cup 2022

Moreover, if Jordan is attacking in particular Zoreh Kouadei, the goalkeeper of the Iranian team, it is not by chance either. The match ended on penalties. And by stopping twice the shooting of the opposing team, it was she who signed the victory for Iran. The stakes are therefore high. Because to question the goalkeeper is to question the result of the match. And therefore the disqualification of Jordan from the Asian Cup.

In a statement, Jordan claims to have evidence and to have given it to the Asian Football Confederation. But Jordan argues above all that Iran would have a "

". Because already in 2015, an official close to the Iranian Football Federation had confided that eight members of the Iranian women's team were suspected of being men awaiting sex reassignment surgery. But at the time, there had been no follow-up.

On the other hand, a year earlier, in 2014, four players had been excluded from the Iranian selection because their gender reassignment operations were not complete.

And so they weren't playing by the rules.

What also poses a problem for Jordan is that in Iran, gender reassignment operations are legal.

And trans women can be part of the women's football team very well.

Unfounded accusations, according to fans

Since the announcement of the Jordanian Football Federation, it is a rain of criticism that has fallen on the Iranian federation since Sunday, November 14.

The player concerned, Zohreh Kouadei, firmly denies these accusations and speaks of harassment.

She is supported by her coach, Maryam Irandoust, for whom this request would only be a pretext to refuse defeat.

But it does not end there, the press release caused controversy with fans across the Middle East.

Since Sunday, a hashtag in support of the player has been circulating on social networks.

It has been picked up thousands of times on Twitter, Facebook, and TikTok.

In the posts, users denounce sexist accusations and a shameful request from the Jordanian Federation.

Faced with this flood of criticism, the Jordanian Football Federation does not budge and maintains its request.

The fate of the two teams is therefore now in the hands of the Asian Football Confederation.

But what is certain is that this incident will have a significant impact on the future relations between the two teams.

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