Football: Iranians suspended for butt pinching

YouTube pictures of a live televised match showed Nosrati pinching the bottom of Persepolis teammate Sheys Rezaei.

TEHRAN: Two Iranian footballers have felt the wrath of the country’s national federation for ‘immoral’ on-field behaviour, according to Iranian state television. Defender Mohammad Nosrati was suspended for an indefinite period after YouTube pictures of a live televised match showed him pinching the bottom of Persepolis teammate Sheys Rezaei during a goal celebration against rivals Damash Gilan. Rezaei suffered the same fate as Nosrati as Iranian football officials took a dim view of the players’ intimate approach to celebrating goals. “Nosrati and Rezaei have been suspended for an indefinite period from all football-related activities for their immoral behaviour,” said the federation’s disciplinary chief Ismail Hasanzadeh, quoted by Iranian state television.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2011.