Life of ‘Arath Hosseini,’ 10-Year-Old Iranian Child Prodigy, in Danger

An official from Sepahan Club announced that the life of ‘Arath Hosseini,’ a 10-year-old Iranian child prodigy, is in danger.

In Iran, there is occasional discussion of child abuse, child marriage, and sexual or psychological assault against children by perpetrators. However, such abuse is not limited to perpetrators outside the family; many families themselves cause physical and psychological harm to their children.

Arath Hosseini, born on October 29, 2013 in Mazandaran, is a football prodigy. Arath’s father is a fruit vendor and his mother is a homemaker. He began his activities from the age of one year with gymnastics and acrobatics training under his father’s coaching and is now engaged in playing football.

At the age of 3, Arath achieved peak fame by participating in the ‘Miracles Program’ in China alongside his family. After witnessing this fame, Arath’s father intended to professionalize him through rigorous daily sports training for his future. In the past, Arath’s father declared that according to his plans, Arath should play for the national team at age 15 and become the youngest goal scorer in the World Cup.

Ultimately, Arath signed a contract with Sepahan Club to develop and progress into a professional footballer. However, after some time, the Sepahan Academy director said about Arath: ‘This child is innocent and pure, but due to the pressure of his father’s training, his growth plates have closed and during training, he holds his chest, and we are concerned about this issue.’ He also stated that individual training endangers Arath’s health, and his father’s unprofessional approach has exerted pressures that led Arath to a situation where he returned from England to Iran.

Sepahan Club gave Arath’s father an ultimatum regarding interference in Arath’s training, which ultimately resulted in the father’s greed and his business-oriented approach to his son leading to the unilateral termination of his contract with Sepahan. The Sepahan Academy director claimed that Arath’s father requested a large furnished house, a monthly salary of 40 million tomans, and his preferred diet, and outside team training hours, he imposed strange personal training sessions on Arath that endangered his health.

After the unprofessional actions of Mahdi Hosseini, Arath’s father, Sepahan Club disclosed facts about him, stating: ‘Various consultations that were conducted during Arath’s time at Sepahan indicated that Arath was under pressure and at risk, to the extent that during play he would place his hand on his chest and was exhausted. It appears that Arath was merely used instrumentally and viewed as a business opportunity. Throughout the day, in addition to club training, Arath’s father subjects his son to several sessions of intense training. Aerobic exercise at 5 a.m., two sessions of weight training during the day, and so on. The harsh truth is that Arath has not been able to have a childhood and has severe psychological differences with his peers. On the other hand, according to various tests, it was found that Arath’s growth channels, such as the epiphyseal plates, have become inactive and he is not growing in height. His bones are growing with difficulty while internal organs such as the heart are enlarging, which causes pressure on the organs. If swift action is not taken for this child, it could result in Arath’s death next year. As a sports coach, I know that weightlifting is not recommended for children under 15 years old, but Arath works with weights six times a week at his father’s instruction and secretly.’

In this regard, child rights activists have also reacted to Arath’s health and are dissatisfied with his living conditions. They announced that it is the pressure from Arath’s parents that has transformed him from a child who could play joyfully with a ball for hours into a child who cries after 490 consecutive push-ups wondering why he couldn’t complete 500 and break the record. His parents’ primary duty is to teach him to enjoy and experience childhood as the valuable being he already is.

What will truly become of young Arath? Will Arath’s family sacrifice him to their excessive ambitions, or will they refrain from pressuring Arath for the sake of his health?