FOOTBALL

FIFA's pound of flesh

Thanks, Dave Zirin.

FIFA had said "Yes" to head coverings with a tight cap.

FIFA had said "No" to necks being covered - for fear of choking, if a roussari or something is tugged.

IRAN played it "clever" and the women were wearing turtle necks.

FIFA got pissed off.

I've already written to FIFA to complain. If they had said "Yes" to hair being covered, why then play this game with the "neck" not being covered? These athletes shouldn't be dragged into these political games.

I would have been OK, if FIFA had said "No." to the whole thing.

But FIFA didn't think of these "athletes" when it set it's "hair covered is OK" - "Neck covered is not OK" - request.

It reminds me of Shylock's impossible request, asking for: "A pound of flesh." It sounds innocent, but is impossible to achieve. FIFA asked for a pound of flesh, here. 

Afsaneh

FIFA 1 - IRI 0

Good job Fifa! You've saved the lives of these poor woman in their hidieous uniform...:-)

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I can't stop laughing! LOL!

Reality-Bites You are full of gold I mean (Tallah)... sorry :)

I misread the beginning of your post, and believed it was highly untruthful, but upon reading the rest of the post I realize you copy/pasted someone elses comment.

I'm a fool, I made a mistake, sorry.

Thank you for the personal insult, amir parviz

But before you felt compelled to throw one my way, did you actually bother to read my comments? It's not a bad idea to actually read what people say before you enage them on their views.

If you had, you would've noted that I was making the point that the women's situation in Iran is far worse now than it was prior to the take over of the Mullahs. I don't know how much clearer I could've been on the point.

Reality-Bites You are full of it.

Womens literacy has not gone up since Shah left and IRI came to power.

Aboslutely nothing has improved since shah left, that is the honest truth.  With one exception, today fewer people in Iran are practicing muslim since time of Shah, that improvement is an IRI accomplishment.

Iranian Women want and deserve the right to have the ability to choose for themselves, not be dictated how they should dress, most iranian women I know prefer not to wear a hijab.

Hijabs are for Arabs, not Iranians.

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Thank you, Reality-Bites, for your great posts!

Sorry, to address another extract

But this makes my blood boil. Mr Zirin in his zeal (no pun intended) to defend the plight of women in Iran under the rule of the Islamic Republic, also states that:

I would add that Blatter's decision only feeds the profound Western ignorance regarding the position of Iranian women since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The literacy rate for women before 1979 was 35 percent. Now it’s over 75 percent. In the days of the Shah, only one-third of women were enrolled in institutions of higher education. Now that number is 50 percent. One in three Iranian doctors are female. In the United States, that number is one in five.

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The comparison of literacy and higher education statistics between Shah's era and the Islamic republic is often brought up by the defenders of the IR. But in doing so, one thing they always choose to disregard is the context.

Yes, it's true that the literacy and proportion of people in higher education is now higher (credit where credit is due) however, what is not stated is that literacy and higher education rates were already on an upward trend under the regime of Shah and his father.

People like Mr. Zirin wilfully disregard the fact that when the Pahlavis took over Iran, women literacy and higher education rates were less than 1%. So while these people are eager to compare and praise IR over the Pahlavi regime in this regard, they never do the same with Pahlavis and the way things were before them. One can't tell for sure what the education stats might now be if the Pahlavi regime had continued, but it is certain that it would be far higher than what it was in 1979.

One stat, claimed by Mr Zirin, that I would definitely question is where he states that one in three Iranian doctors are female. I'd like to know the source of this claim.

But more than any of this, is the quite outrageous attempt by Mr. Zirin to praise the lot of Iranian women under the IR. The man pointedly disregards the deep-rooted institutionalized discrimination and downright oppression of Iranian women in numerous areas such as lack of social rights/freedoms (which includes the forced dress question), lower economic status, restriction of access/rights of access to jobs, far lower rights in marriage, inheritance/family disputes, in many cases having to endure marriages to men with multiple wives, banned from many sporting and other events, many are victims of domestic abuse and violence without proper legal recourse and the list goes on.

Yeah, Mr. Zirin do carry on trying to convince people that women in Iran have it great. Perhaps you might try living in Iran for a while with some of your lady relatives and see how they enjoy life as females there.

Regarding this extract from the article

“If we’re really concerned with how women are perceived and treated in Muslim communities, it seems hugely counterproductive to adopt policies that force women to choose between abiding by the tenets of their faith and participating in activities that let them demonstrate their physical prowess and strategic intelligence.” 

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Has it escaped Dave Zirin's attention or is he simply not sufficiently informed about the situation in Iran to know that the right to "choose" to dress in whatever way one wishes is not accorded to Iranian women?

If they had the choice, I suspect many of the Iranian FT ladies, if not all, would "choose" to dress like their counterparts from "free" countries that don't require their female athletes to dress in ridiculous outfits such as those enforced by the Islamic Republic. 

Honestly, these poor women look like extras, dressed as sperms, running down the love tunnel in Wood Allen's film "Everything you wanted to know about sex but were afraid to ask".

So Mr. Zirin, aside from the fact that these utterly ludicrous outfits women footbll players are forced to don by the regime in Iran contravene FIFA's rules (agreed by majority of member states), it's not so much a question of them being forced to choose between abiding by the tenets of their faith and participating in activities that let them demonstrate their physical prowess and strategic intelligence (whatever "strategic intelligence" is supposed to mean in this context), but more a question of these women being forced to choose between abiding by the Islamic Republic diktats in how they must dress and participating in their sporting activities.

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Iranian men's soccer team ranks #48 in the world, while Iranian girls' soccer team ranks #51 in the world!

Iranian girls' soccer team ranks the highest among the Islamic countries!

Khahee nashavi rosva hamrange jamaat sho

If they really want to play, thay need to obey the international rules, take off those kafans and dress like a normal athlete.

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 Well-said, Raoul1955! The author of the article blames FIFA for the disqualification of these girls. I blame Khomeini for forcing hijab on these girls and the disqualification of these girls! Khomeini has been dead for 22 years, but his "holy" mandate is still tormenting people.......it is time to by-pass his hijab mandate and move the country forward!

Folks:

It is NOT the FIFA that is 'rejecting' the Iranian team!!!   It is the Iranians who have REJECTED the guidelines and the standards set by FIFA.

I agree with FIFA

Hijab is the symbol of entanglement for women. It is correct for the FIFA to reject it since it denies credibility to oppresion with women.

Well done FIFA!

The Islamic Republic Terrorist Regime has made a mockery of Iran on the sport international stage. For many years the Islamic Republic was a laughing stock during the Olympics opening ceremony because it was the only country where a man (and a huge orangutan, or should I say Irangutan) led the Iranian delegation. It then tried to improve  the situation by replacing the Basiji boy with a chadori women but did more harm than good and people still laughed whenever they saw the Iranian sports team. 

FIFA's wisdom in preventing the Iranian soccer team play with the hijab should actually be welcomed by the team members and all womenfolk in Iran who are routined harassed, arrested, beaten and imprisoned for not wanting to wear the ugly Islamic rag.  

God bless FIFA. Please do not be allowed to be bullied by a bunch of terrorist losers.  

You know, Yolanda

 although I often appreciate your fervour, albeit a bit passionate, I myself prefer to read material and then, only then, if curious, start to consider the motivations of the author (although they generally start to limelight upon reading). But then, I thought that was sort of a given and quite customary, until I hit the world wide web and IC in particular. 

I'm just saying.... It might be an idea to actually read and comprehend an article and ponder the relevant points raised. E.g.:

"But far more problematic is that the team had already received assurances from FIFA that the uniforms were in compliance. They had even had played preliminary rounds without a blip from Blatter. "

P.S. Boycotting an event for political reasons already attracts numerous questionable ethical conducts (see Bahrain and Formula 1), but an International body really ought to be less swaying and swayed and a bit more steadfast in its approach rather than digging for a PR bogeywoman, whilst reeking in quicksand of scandal. 

A sane question would be to ask what other Muslim female teams are wearing, instead of jumping on yet another self-serving bandwagon. 

Personally, I feel sorry for the young women players. 

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Here is info about this author of this article, Dave Zirin:

On June 2, 2010, writing for the Nation, Zirin justified the decision of the Turkish U-19 soccer team to boycott a match against Israel. He described the Gaza flotilla raid as an act of state terror committed by the Israeli government and proposed a boycott of Israel.[5]

Raoul of All the Allmighties Ayatollahs

 Generally, what's up in the US with your militant, self-labelled (and boy oh boy , off the mark or what) "liberals" (Christ on a hot-cross-bun) who have nothing to do with "liberalism"? 

You ought to decapitate their caps! 

 From the article and excellent it is:

“If we’re really concerned with how women are perceived and treated in Muslim communities, it seems hugely counterproductive to adopt policies that force women to choose between abiding by the tenets of their faith and participating in activities that let them demonstrate their physical prowess and strategic intelligence.” 

Liberals

Sure twist social issues and events to suit their 'twisted' interests. FIFA, just like any organization, has clearly stated guidelines.  If Iranians desire to participate in games sponsored by FIFA, then they need to adhere to FIFA's guidelines...

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FIFA rules that state, "Players and officials shall not display political, religious, commercial or personal messages or slogans in any language or form on their playing or team kits."

So is hijab a religious message? I think so!

I feel bad that they can't play!

Mr. Zirin, Great Article

Thanks for attention to this issue as you mention it is completely a political.