Jordan requests gender confirmation of female Iran player, claims goalie is a man
Iran’s keeper Zohreh Koudaei accused of being a man by Jordan Football Association
Jordanâs Football Association has petitioned a formal complaint to request a gender verification of an Iranian player after its womenâs team lost to the Iranian team, casting doubt whether Iranâs goalkeeper is a man or a woman.
Former FIFA vice president Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan shared the formal complaint letter filed by the JFA dated November 5, calling on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to investigate the player in question.
No relevance to previous tweets but itâs a very serious issue if true. Please wake up @theafcdotcom pic.twitter.com/egk678CXCX
â Ali Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) November 13, 2021
âConsidering the evidence submitted by JFA and given the importance of this competition, we request the AFC to initiate a transparent and clear investigation by a panel of independent medical experts to investigate the eligibility of the player in question,â read the letter.
The player in question, Zohreh Koudaei, played in the goalkeeperâs position and helped Iran defeat Jordan in penalties, securing Tehranâs spot in the 2022 AFC Womenâs Asia Cup. Koudaei has been questioned over her gender status, defending herself several times in Iranian newspapers in the past.
âThe widespread talk about the goalkeeperâs gender is just an excuse not to accept defeat against Iranian women,â Maryam Irandoost the coach of the Iranian womenâs team, was quoted as saying in statements carried by the Iranian Fars news agency.
âAfter the Jordanian teamâs defeat, it was natural for them to try to calm themselves under false pretexts,â she added. âI want to confirm that before the start of our qualifying journey, we conducted the necessary tests, as the medical staff carefully examined each player in the national team so that we would not face any problem in this regard.â
Eight players from Iranâs female team ânot fully womenâ
Iran has in the past been accused of fielding male players on its womenâs national team. In 2015, eight players in the Iran womenâs football team were alleged to be men awaiting gender reassignment operations.
â[Eight players] have been playing with Iranâs female team without completing sex change operations,â Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, said during an interview with the Iranian website Young Journalists Club at the time.
There were also claims that four players on the womenâs team were men and in 2010 questions were raised about the gender of the national teamâs goalkeeper.
Iran’s national women’s team has come under fire this week after it emerged that eight players of the group were not females, according to Al Arabiya News Channelâs Arabic language website.
â[Eight players] have been playing with Iranâs female team without completing sex change operations,â Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, said during an interview with the Iranian website Young Journalists Club. The proportion of players in the team who were born men was not known.
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