Isfahan Municipality Director Imprisoned for Organizing a Family Football Watching Program
One of the managers of the Isfahan municipality, who had broadcast the Iranian and Moroccan football matches during the World Cup in a family-friendly manner and without gender discrimination at the Koh Soffeh tourist complex, was transferred to Dastgerd Prison in Isfahan to serve his sentence.
Ali Moeini, a reformist political activist and CEO of Sepahan Tourism Development Company, affiliated with the Isfahan Municipality, went to prison on Saturday, March 1, to serve his sentence, while unofficial news reports indicate that he was convicted for playing football among the people of this city without gender discrimination in the Koh Soffe tourist area of Isfahan.
He had previously announced on his Twitter page that he had received three notices and complaints for holding this program.
Fars News Agency, a media outlet close to the Revolutionary Guard Corps, however, wrote that the ruling issued against Mr. Moeini was for "insulting high-ranking officials of the country" on Twitter and was made before his appointment to the Sepahan Tourism Development Company.
The Fars News Agency's claim comes at a time when the family broadcast of football in Isfahan drew many criticisms from extremists, such that at the time, Mojtaba Mirdamadi, the temporary Friday prayer imam of Isfahan, described it as spreading "abominations in the Islamic country."
In July of this year, Iranian media reported that Ali Moeini had been summoned to judicial authorities.
For years, the Islamic Republic has opposed broadcasting football matches in public places without gender segregation, and they also do not allow women to attend stadiums alongside men.
Source: Voice of America
