Restrictions on women's futsal national team players; not wearing the hijab abroad, permanent exclusion from the national team
Shiva Amini, an Iranian women's futsal player, says she has been permanently removed from the national team by officials from the Football Federation and security for publishing photos of herself without a hijab abroad.
The futsal player posted a photo of himself in the caption of the story, writing, "We endure all this silence and patience, we wear the strict hijab like mummies, just to win medals and say, 'Hey, it doesn't matter.'"
Regarding the reason for being removed from the national team, she said: "I tried my best to open my way through calls and conversations with the Women's Federation and security so that I wouldn't be removed because of my hijab, but they just empty my heart and say, 'We don't have a personal or private life. When you were a national team player, you have to secretly wear a hijab on your personal page.' It's cruel."
The Iranian women's futsal player's statements have been met with a reaction from the Iranian Football Federation. The statement from the Football Federation claims that she has not been a member of the national team since 2000 and that her exclusion was not due to her lack of hijab.
Ms. Amini did not say in her Instagram post that she had just been cut from the national team, or that she had been at that time, but in response to the Football Federation's statement, she said that she would release all the files of the conversations with security officials and the federation so that you can see what is important to them behind the scenes and what pressures they are under.
Hijab is not mandatory outside of Iran.
Is there a legal prohibition on Iranian female athletes appearing outside Iran without a hijab?
Some civil activists and artists, including Taraneh Alidoosti, have shared Article 638 of the Islamic Penal Code regarding the requirement of Islamic hijab, which states that hijab is not relevant outside the country.
However, sports decision-makers in Iran deal with female athletes if they do not wear a hijab abroad.
Some female athletes say that security guards and institutions have summoned them after their presence abroad and sometimes have treated them for not wearing a hijab or even for not wearing enough.
The ongoing story of female athletes and the hijab
The mandatory hijab of female athletes and their subsequent lack of hijab abroad have repeatedly led to clashes between the sports federations of the Islamic Republic and the athletes.
In April, the Iranian Bowling and Billiards Federation banned several female billiard players from participating in competitions for a year for what it called failure to observe "Islamic rules."
Last March, Dorsa Derakhshani, a chess player who participated in a chess tournament in Spain without a hijab, was banned from participating in the Iranian national team.
Source: Voice of America
