A month and a half after his team lost penalty shootouts to Iran and failed to win a spot in the Women’s Asian Cup, the Jordan Football Association (AFJ) decided to try to change the result on the mat.
In a letter sent to the Asian Football Confederation (CAF), dated the 5th of this month, the Jordanian official Samar Nassar requests an inquiry to find out whether the Iranian goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei is a woman.
He urges the confederation to initiate “a clear and transparent investigation by an independent medical team” in order to ascertain “the eligibility of the athlete in question and others on the team, particularly as Iran has a history of gender and doping issues. ”.
Nassar made this accusation without, in the document, mentioning any case in which Iran has circumvented the rules for sporting cheating.
The movement received the endorsement of the president of the AFJ, Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein, who is one of the vice-presidents of FIFA, the maximum football entity.
In a post five days ago, he tweeted that, “if true, it’s a very serious matter.” And he urged CAF to “wake up”.
In the match on September 25, in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), which hosted a triangular match with Jordan, Iran and Bangladesh, earning a spot in the Asian Cup, Jordanians and Iranians drew goalless.
As both had thrashed Bangladesh 5-0, the decision went to penalties. Iran won 4-2, and Zohreh saved two shots.
AFJ’s attitude seems like a loser’s thing. Before the confrontation, he didn’t complain about anything. And, if your team had won, they would not have made any requests related to the opposing goalkeeper. Defeat sparked distrust.
CAF was not clear when asked whether to take the case forward. Through a spokesman, he said the confederation “does not comment on ongoing investigations or lawsuits.”
Iran coach Maryam Azmoon told Iranian sports website Varzesh3 that the team’s medical department “carefully examined each player” regarding hormonal issues “to avoid any problems, so I can tell fans to be calm.”
The target of suspicion, Zohreh greeted the accusation with indignation. “I am a woman. Jordan is bullying.” The 32-year-old goalkeeper has said he will sue the AFJ.
The Iranian classification was historic. If there is no reversal, it will be the first time that the country’s women’s team will participate in an Asian Cup.
The 20th edition of the competition will be in India, in January and February 2022, and will have 12 participants.
The current champion is Japan, which triumphed in the Jordan edition in 2018, and the team that won the most is the Chinese, with eight titles.
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