The Iran women's soccer goalkeeper has vowed to sue the "bully" Jordan Football Association after accusing her of being a man.
Zahra Kadi, 32, saved two penalties in a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Jordan in Uzbekistan on September 25, meaning that Iran's women's team qualified for the first time ever for the Asian Women's Cup.
It is noteworthy that the Iranian women's team qualified for the 2022 Asian Nations Championship, which will be held in India, after defeating its Jordanian counterpart in a penalty shootout.
And the original time of the match, which was held in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, ended with a 0-0 draw, so the two teams decided to penalty kicks, in which the Iranian goalkeeper shone and led her team to qualify for the continental championship.
After the match, the Jordan Football Association asked the Asian Football Confederation to "verify Qadi's gender".
And according to the Turkish newspaper, Hurriyet, "Qadi" confirmed - emphatically - "I am a woman .. this is bullying from Jordan. I will sue the Jordanian Football Association."
The Jordanian Federation called for an investigation to be opened to determine the gender of the goalkeeper, whether male or female.
The AFC responded to the Jordanian complaint quickly, stressing that the investigation proved that the Iranian player's gender is female.
The president of the Jordan Football Association, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, shared the message last Saturday, describing it as a "very serious issue if it is true" and calling on the AFC to "wake up".
An AFC spokesperson said: "The AFC does not comment on ongoing investigations or proceedings, whether actual or potential."
Maryam Irandost, the coach of the Iranian women's soccer team, refused to question the gender of the team's goalkeeper or any other player, and said that the team's medical staff had carefully examined the hormones of all the players to respond to any (expected) complaint against them with official documents.
She claimed that the Jordanian team - which was a strong candidate to qualify - was looking for an "excuse" to lose the match.
And she added, "The medical staff carefully examined all the players of the national team in terms of hormones to avoid any problems in this regard."
The coach said that "Kady" represented her country in the 2008 and 2010 Asian Cup qualifiers.
"We will provide any documents requested by the AFC without wasting time," she added.
Irandost said the accusation was used to cover up Jordan's loss.
She concluded, "These allegations are just an excuse not to accept the defeat against the Iranian women's team. The Jordanian team considered itself the biggest candidate to qualify, and when it lost, it was natural to seek false pretexts and evade responsibility for this failure."
The Iranian women's team qualified for the first time ever for the Asian Women's Cup (networking sites)
The history of Iran with questioning the gender of the players
Six years ago, Iranian media reported the names of 8 male players who represented their country's women's team in recent years.
After 8 years of controversy and the Iranian Football Federation rejected reports that there were 4 males in the women's national team, a source close to the Football Association said that 8 players, not 4, represented the Iranian women's team.
It is noteworthy that the talk about the presence of male players in the Iranian women's team dates back to 2008, when Mohammad Morteza Nejad, head of an Iranian football club, spoke about the presence of men in the team, but the Iranian Federation described these conversations at that time as "false."
The British newspaper "Telegraph" published a report in 2014 after the discovery of 4 men in the women's team, for the Iranian Football Federation to announce the expulsion of these players in a scandal reported by various international media.