Reports: Eight members of Iran's national women's team have been revealed to be men

The gender of eight members of the team has been subject to controversy

A startling report by The Telegraph claims that eight of the 11 members of Iran’s national women’s football first team are actually ‘men’. It has been said that the individuals in question are actually men awaiting sex change operation. The country's national football association has been accused of being "unethical" for knowingly fielding eight men in its women's team. This footballing world has been taken aback by this bizarre development.

This shocking story first came into light when Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, reported it to an Iranian news website. "Eight players have been playing with Iran's female team without completing sex change operations," Sharifi told the website, which later has been picked up by the British newspapers.

It has been confirmed that the authorities have reportedly ordered gender testing of the entire national squad and leading league players. Though the names of the players thought to be male has not been revealed. Ahmad Hashemian, head of the Iranian football federation's medical committee, said the clubs themselves were now obliged to carry out medical examinations to establish the gender of their players before signing them on contracts.

This is not the first time the country’s women’s football team has been in the news for the wrong reasons. In 2014, Iran’s football governing body had introduced arbitrary checks after it was revealed that four members of the national team were men who either had not completed sex change operations or were suffering from sexual development disorders. In 2010, there was a controversy regarding the gender of the team's goalkeeper.

Strangely, gender change operations are legal in Iran which follows a rigorous Sharia legal code where homosexuality and pre-marital sex are strictly frowned upon. This is largely thanks to a ‘fatwa’ or a religious ruling issued by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Sex changes are commonly carried out in phases in Iran, with the full procedure taking up to two years and including hormone therapy before the full gender transformation is completed.

Football is highly popular among many Iranian women, despite religious rules that bar them from entering stadiums to watch matches between male teams. The Iranian women's team play in hijab headscarves, long-sleeved tops and tracksuit bottoms.

The Iranian national team is ranked 13th in Asia and 59th in the world.

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Edited by Staff Editor