A sexual violence scandal could engulf Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city. The Iranian Minister of Sports has indeed ordered the opening of an investigation into rape of minors in a football school in the northeast of the country, an official source announced on Saturday. “A former Shahr Khodro football team media manager has claimed on social media that the parents of 15 players from this club and his school have filed a complaint against the club and its coaches for sexual abuse of their children,” said indicated the Irna agency.
FC Shahr Khordo is located in Mashhad, the main holy city of Iran. “Sports Minister Hamid Sadjadi ordered an investigation two weeks ago following reports of rapes at a football school for teenagers in Mashhad”, adds the same source, calling for “firmness” against those responsible for these events.
A previous controversy in 2017
Friday, the newspaper Shahrara, a publication of the municipality of Mashhad, had announced that “families of players” of the club had gathered in front of the headquarters of the provincial football organization to “protest against this tragedy”. Since there was no follow-up after the gathering, the families were forced to publicize the case through the media, the daily added.
In 2017, an official of the Iranian Football Federation’s ethics committee caused controversy in the country after revealing the attack on “more than ten teenage members of a local team”.