Iran’s government is apparently causing major problems for former Bundesliga player Ali Daei and his family. A scheduled flight from Iran to Dubai is said to have been stopped en route because the wife and daughter of the former Iranian soccer player were in it. Daei’s relatives were asked to get off, reported several news agencies, including the US news agency Associated Press (AP).
On the flight tracking website Flightradar24 was seen as a plane operated by the Iranian airline Mahan Air made a stop on the island of Kish in the Persian Gulf before continuing on to Dubai a few hours later. The stopover was not announced.
The semi-state news agency Tasnim, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, reported that Daei’s wife was banned from traveling earlier this month for supporting the protests. She is said to have tried to circumvent the ban without explaining this in more detail. She is said to have planned to travel to the United States.
Daei vehemently rejects statements by the judiciary
Daei said his wife and daughter left the capital Tehran legally, according to the AP. If there had been a ban on leaving the country, the police should have informed her at passport control in Tehran. On the island of Kish, they were questioned by the authorities after the stopover. His daughter was released but was not able to board the ship again. The family had planned to return from Dubai next week. “What’s the point, it was just a short trip and they both wanted to go back next week,” Daei is quoted as saying by AP.
The former captain of the Iranian national team reacted with disbelief to his family’s dramatic ban on leaving the country. “Did the (security forces) want to arrest terrorists,” the record international was quoted as saying by the Iranian media on Tuesday. According to the daily newspaper, the 53-year-old said he had tried to find out a reason for the strange incident from several authorities, but so far in vain Etemad.
Daei had shown solidarity with the demonstrators
The former Bundesliga professional played for Arminia Bielefeld, FC Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC. After the nationwide protests broke out in mid-September, he showed his solidarity with the demonstrators. That’s why his passport was temporarily confiscated by the authorities. In the same context, there is an arrest warrant for former professional Ali Karimi, who played for Bayern Munich and Schalke 04. Former Hamburger SV player Mehdi Mahdavkia resigned as U-21 national coach in protest. The protests were triggered by the death of the young Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini on September 16. The Morality Police had arrested her for violating the Islamic dress code.
Numerous Iranian celebrities have already been arrested and imprisoned because of their solidarity with the protests against the Islamic system, which have been going on for more than three months. According to human rights groups abroad, more than 18,000 demonstrators have been arrested so far. Two demonstrators have already been executed and more than 20 other demonstrators are on the judiciary’s death list. The number of dead is estimated at 500.