"Reason to Justify the Loss": Jordan Demands to Verify the Gender of the Iranian Women's Team Goalkeeper

In Asian football, there was a curious, but quite serious scandal.

The Jordanian Football Association (JFA) has demanded that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) investigate the gender of the Iranian women's national team goalkeeper Zohra Qudaei and, if doubts are confirmed, take appropriate action.

Such a sensitive issue was raised in early autumn, when the national teams of Iran and Jordan participated in the qualifying tournament for the Asian Championship.

On September 25, the teams played a match in Tashkent, the winner of which had the opportunity to go to the tournament next year.

The game ended in a draw and a penalty shootout was awarded.

During it, Kudaei repelled two blows, which allowed the Iranians to celebrate the victory and for the first time in their history to get to the continental championship.

The Jordanian side immediately had complaints about the rivals' goalkeeper, who, due to their characteristic appearance, was suspected of playing foul play.

On the same day, JFA sent a letter to the AFC demanding to verify the gender of the athlete.

Four days later, the confederation responded.

It stated that in the competition regulations there is no mandatory requirement to check the gender of the participants.

However, Jordan was not satisfied with such a reaction.

Almost a month later, a letter was again sent to the AFC, the text of which was posted on social networks by its head Ali bin al-Hussein, the half-brother of King Abdullah II of the country and a former candidate for president of the International Football Federation (FIFA).

In a new appeal, JFA demanded to initiate an investigation, as a result of which claims can be made against the Iranian national team.

“Given the evidence provided by JFA and the importance of the competition, we ask the AFC to initiate a transparent and clear investigation by independent medical experts to establish the eligibility of the player in question, as well as other team members, given that the female The Iranian national team already has a rich history of incidents involving players' gender and doping, ”the letter said.

Al-Hussein himself accompanied the screenshot with the comment that "this is a very important issue if it is true."

It is worth noting that the letter does not indicate the name of a specific athlete that Jordan wants to check.

Claims against 31-year-old Qudaei may also be related to the fact that she has not played for the Iranian national team for a long time.

In the past, she represented the country in the 2008 and 2010 Asian Championship qualifiers, after which she stopped receiving the challenge.

The recent September matches of the national team were the first for it after more than a ten-year hiatus.

In Iran, the accusations against the athlete are categorically denied.

The head coach of the national team Maryam Irandost said that the actions of the Jordanians were caused by their frustration over the defeat.

According to her, there can be no doubt that Kudaei is a girl.

“The medical staff has carefully checked each player of the national team in terms of hormones in order to avoid any problems in this regard, so I urge the fans not to worry.

These accusations are a way to justify the defeat against the Iranian national team.

The Jordanian team considered themselves to be a serious favorite in qualifying, and when they lost, they naturally began to seek consolation in false excuses and avoid responsibility for their failure.

We will promptly provide AFC with all the information it needs, ”Irandost told Varzesh 3.

Former Iranian footballer Katayun Khosrovyar also stood up for Kudaei.

She said that the goalkeeper has faced this attitude throughout her career and always goes through the necessary checks.

“Officials (judges and inspectors.

) did not provide any information, but I know exactly who they are talking about. She went through hell during the first round of charges in 2008. It has been checked and rechecked several times. She's not the only soccer player in Asia to have such rude features. We were teammates and lived in the same room for eight years. She is one of my closest friends, and you should all get to know her better. By the way, she has always been very talented in repelling penalties, ”Khosrovyar wrote on Twitter.

However, in the past, there have been cases in Iran where men have played for women's soccer teams.

In 2014, it was confirmed that four players in the national team immediately changed gender, after which they introduced a mandatory gender compliance check.

A year later, there were already eight such athletes, but then it was reported that they had not yet had time to complete the relevant legal procedures.