Jordan has alleged that Iran’s women’s national football team goalkeeper, Zohreh Koudaei, is a man, and has called on the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to launch a gender verification investigation.
The accusation was made after Iran beat Jordan 4-2 in a penalty shootout on September 25, when Iranian goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei blocked two goal attempts by the Jordanian team, resulting in Iran’s qualification for the 2022 Women’s Asian Cup for the first time in its history.
The president of the Jordan Football Association (JFA), Ali Bin Al-Hussein, on Sunday posted a tweet, describing the issue as “very serious” and asking the AFC to “please wake up”.
Attached to the tweet is a letter showing the association’s correspondence with the confederation regarding the matter, in which a gender verification check is requested on the Iranian player and the Iranian women’s football team is accused by the JFA of past gender and doping foul play.
“Considering the evidence submitted by JFA and given the importance of this competition, we request the AFC to initiate a transparent and clear investigation by a panel of independent medical experts to investigate the eligibility of the player in question and others on the team, particularly that the Iranian Women Football team has a history with gender and doping issues,” reads part of the letter.
The Iranian women's national football team head coach and selector, Maryam Irandoost, rejected the allegations, and called it an excuse for not accepting the defeat, in an interview with a local sports news site on Sunday.
“The Jordanian team considered themselves the big favourite to qualify... and when they lost... it was natural to seek relief under false pretences and to escape responsibility for this failure," a report by France24 quoted the Iranian coach as saying.
"The medical staff have carefully examined each player on the national team in terms of hormones to avoid any problems in this regard, and so I tell all fans not to worry," Irandoost said.
The Iranian coach added "We will provide any documentation that the Asian Confederation of Football wishes without wasting time".
The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup football tournament is due to be held in India from 20 January to 6 February.
