Iranian football legend Ali Daei, who had expressed his support for the protesters after death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Aminiaccused Tehran today of barring his family from leaving the country, diverting the flight carrying his wife and daughter.
Iranian judicial authorities sealed off Ali Daei’s jewelry store and restaurant in early December because he joined those calling for a strike over the death of 22-year-old Makhsa Amini. The young woman was arrested by the morality police for not wearing her headscarf “correctly” and died three days later on September 16.
Iranian state media confirmed that Daei’s family had been barred from leaving the country because of his “connections” with anti-government organizations.
Daei’s wife and daughter boarded a Mahan Air flight from Tehran to Dubai. But they were forced to disembark after the plane landed on the Iranian island of Kish, in the Gulf, said the 53-year-old veteran footballer himself, according to the ISNA agency. “They were not arrested. No one gave me an answer about this incident. I really don’t know what the reason for this decision is. My wife and daughter were going to Dubai for a few days.”
Daei’s wife has been told to inform authorities if she wishes to leave the country “because of her ties to organizations hostile to the Islamic revolution and to unrest,” the IRNA news agency reported.
The former footballer told AFP in October that his passport had been confiscated by police when he returned from abroad, but it was returned to him a few days later. He also said he has been the target of threats after he supported protesters protesting Amini’s death.
On September 27, Daei called on the government, in posts on social networking sites, to “solve the problems of the Iranian people instead of resorting to repression.”
Daei played in the Bundesliga, mainly for Bayern Munich. He was the all-time leading scorer at national team level, with 109 goals for Iran, a record surpassed only by Cristiano Ronaldo. Due to the suppression of the protests in Iran, he did not go to Qatar for the World Cup.
Source: News Beast
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