Sharifi did not disclose the names of the players who are allegedly male, but did say a few had spent their entire careers playing for the women’s team, only to disclose their true gender on their last day in the squad.
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Mojtabi Sharifi, a source close to the Iranian league told the Iranian Young Journalists Club website that these players have been with Iran’s female team without completing their sex change operation.
The Telegraph reported that seven players were dismissed in 2014 after the league required teams to test a player’s sex before signing them.
Eight of Iran’s women’s football team are men who are awaiting sex swap operations, it has been claimed.
It is not the first time the team has been the subject of controversy.
In 2010, questions were raised about whether the goalkeeper was really a woman.
Gender operations are legal in the country.
Sex change operations have been legal in Iran since 1979, when the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, giving them the go-ahead.
Sex changes are commonly carried out in phases in Iran, with the full procedure taking up to two years and including hormone therapy before the full gender transformation is completed. Their offense? Making a video of the three unveiled women and three men dancing to Pharrell Williams’ song “Happy”.
Earlier this month, the team’s captain, Niloufar Ardalan, 30, was banned from competing in the championship because her husband was reportedly refusing to let her leave the country.
“I wish authorities would create [measures] that would allow female athletes to defend their rights in such situations”.
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If Iran has no problem cheating at soccer, why would anyone trust them not to continue developing a nuclear weapon?
