Truth behind the day ‘eight men were accused of played for Iran’s women’s team’

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Football is used to dealing with its fair share of controversy, but few things can top the scandal that engulfed the Iranian FA six years ago.

In 2015, they were at the centre of an ethical storm after the Iranian Women's National Team were accused of selecting eight men in their squad.

Photos of the team went viral on social media as people debated whether the claims were real, citing the masculine appearance of a number of players.

The Iranian FA were branded 'unethical', after it was alleged the players were actually men awaiting sex change operations.

However, at no point has anyone ever been found guilty of any offences related to the allegations.

Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, told an Iranian news website at the time: "[Eight players] have been playing with Iran’s female team without completing sex change operations."

Sharifi did not disclose the names of the players who were allegedly male, but did say some had spent their entire careers playing for the women's teams, only to reveal their true gender on their last day in the squad.

Another allegation claimed that male footballers playing in the Iranian league would retire, then reappear years later playing for the women's teams.

The Iranian women's team wear hijab headscarfs, long-sleeved tops and tracksuit bottoms during matches.

The incident in 2015 was not the first time the Iranian FA have been involved in a gender scandal.

Questions were raised over the legitimacy of some players in 2010, when the gender of a goalkeeper was put under the microscope.

In 2014, the governing body introduced random medical checks after it was claimed that four national team players were either men who had not completed sex change operations, or were suffering from sexual development disorders.

Despite Iran's strict rules regarding sexual morality under Sharia law, gender change operations are legal in the country.

These changes are generally carried out in phases in Iran, with the full process taking up to two years before the full transformation is completed.

As a result, it is important to make the distinction that eight transgender women – not eight men – appear to have played for the Iran Women's National Team in 2015.

• Iran

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