The Iranian authorities have seized the passport of former player Ali Daei, one of the most prominent names in the history of the national team, following criticizing its handling of the protests that followed the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, according to press reports on Monday.
Since September 16, several Iranian cities have witnessed daily protest movements following the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Amini, three days following her arrest by the morality police in Tehran.
Dozens died on the sidelines of the protests, including members of the security forces, while officials confirmed the arrest of hundreds of participants in the protests and “riots”.
On Monday, the reformist newspaper Hem Mihen wrote that “the confiscation of Ali Daei’s passport is due to what he wrote on “Instagram” commenting on the death of Mahsa Amini.”
The former attacker urged the authorities on September 27 to solve the problems of the Iranian people instead of using repression, violence and arrests, according to a post on his Instagram account.
Daei, 52, was the top scorer in the history of national teams for many years with 109 goals, until he was surpassed by Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo in September 2021.
He was one of the first Iranians to defend the colors of European clubs, and he emerged in Germany, where he wore the shirts of Armenia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.
The German capital club expressed its regret on its Twitter account on Sunday that Daei “is not allowed to leave the country because he spoke in support of women’s rights.”
For his part, the Iranian sports website Warzesh3 quoted Daei Muhammad’s brother as saying: Ali gave all his life to raise the Iranian flag, he loves his country and his people and always tells the truth, and what happened to him is unfortunate.
