By Mark Baber
August 15 – Widespread reports that Iran had banned two members of the national squad for breaking the sporting boycott of Israel were refuted by the Iranian FA at the weekend in a letter to FIFA, according to the Iranian Student News Agency.
The allegations against Iran, linked to calls to have the country banned for “political interference,” followed a reported comment by Mohammad Reza Davarzani, Iran’s deputy sports minister, on Iranian television to the effect that, “it is certain that Masoud Shojaei (pictured) and Ehsan Haji Safi will never be invited to join the national football team because they violated the red line.”
Davarzani made his comment after Team Melli players Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi, who had told their club Panionis that they would not play in the away leg of their Europa League fixture against Maccabi Tel Aviv, nevertheless played against the Israeli team in the return leg in Greece.
Boycotts of Israeli teams and athletes have regularly led to the withdrawal of Arab, Iranian and other Muslim athletes and teams and of course have included the exclusion of Israel from the Asian Football Confederation which eventually led to the country’s participation in UEFA.
The wider BDS campaign (inspired by the boycott of apartheid South Africa) to extend the boycott of Israel or even get the country banned by FIFA, in response to its restrictions on Palestinian football, racism against Arabs and the integration of settlement teams into Israeli society, has so far had little success – although FIFA pressure on Israel and support for Palestinian football has certainly improved the position of Palestinian football.
The narrative of boycotting Israel in support of Palestinian human rights, in line with UN Guiding Principles and the FIFA-Commissioned Ruggie report on FIFA and Human Rights, stands in sharp opposition to the narrative of a political boycott in support of anti-Semitism.
Whether Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi will ever play for Iran again remains to be seen, and Iranian coach Carlos Queiroz may be placed in an uncomfortable position, but it seems likely that Iran’s FA will have the diplomatic dexterity to head off any kind of FIFA action against what is one of the strongest footballing nations in Asia and the first team to qualify for 2018.
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