Iranian soccer league players Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezai have received heavy fines for their so-called “immoral acts” on the field while celebrating a goal.
Iranian media report that Mohammad Rohanian, the head of the Persepolis Soccer Club, announced that Sheys Rezai has been fined $300,000 and is suspended for the rest of the season.
Mohammad Nosrati is fined $250,000 and is suspended until mid-season.
The club said Rezai’s heavier penalty was based on what it called his “former records.”
Iranian media have been up in arms over the celebratory scene captured on camera after a Persepolis goal, in which one player touched the others’ buttocks.
A judiciary official has even called for the two men to be flogged and imprisoned.
Members of the National Soccer Team, however, have issued a statement in support of their colleagues, insisting that the affair was not intentional.
Both players have also issued public statements saying they committed no indecency, and all the negative interpretations of the scene are misunderstandings.
