Iran footballer sacked for not fasting

His sacking comes after he criticised the management style of the club’s managing director and former official of RG.

TEHRAN: Iranian footballer Ali Karimi, sometimes described as “the Maradona of Asia,” has been fired by his club for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramazan.

Steel Azin FC said that it was “forced to sack one of its players, Karimi, for being disobedient and not fasting during Ramazan.”

Karimi, who was the Asian Player of 2004, had even “insulted officials of the [Iranian] football federation and the Tehran team’s supervisor who confronted him on the issue,” said Steel Azin.

His sacking comes after he criticised the management style of the club’s managing director and former official of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mostafa Ajorlou.

The Islamic republic’s state news agency IRNA, meanwhile, reported that the club’s chairman, Hossein Hedayati, was unaware of the decision and was against Karimi’s sacking.

The 31-year-old Karimi, had a two-year stint in the Bundesliga, scoring four goals in 50 appearances for Bayern Munich.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2010.