Iranian women's team goalkeeper hits back after Jordan accuses her of being a man

In a bizarre controversy that erupted earlier this month, an Iranian female football player named, Zohreh Koudaei, has been accused of being a man by the Jordan Football Association. The allegation was first levelled by the Jordan FA in a letter it sent to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on September 25, soon after losing 4-2 to Iran in a crucial AFC Asian Cup match. In its letter, Jordan FA had urged the AFC to investigate the eligibility of the player. 

'I will sue them'

Koudaei has now hit back saying she will sue the Jordan FA for their comments regarding her gender. Koudaei, while speaking to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, clarified that she is a woman and accused the Jordan FA of bullying behaviour. Iran's head coach Maryam Irandoost accused Jordan of making false allegations so they could escape responsibility for their failure to win the important qualifier match against her team. She further added that Iran is ready to provide any document AFC need in its investigation. 

In its letter to the AFC, Jordan FA said the Iranian women's football team has a history with gender and doping issues. In 2015, eight male players were accused of playing for the Iranian women's football team without completing their sex-change operation. In 2010, the team's goalkeeper was accused of not disclosing her true gender. Despite being a hardline Islamic nation, sex-change operations are legal in Iran and have lately become quite common. 

Meanwhile, this is not the first time Koudaei has been accused of being a man. Earlier, the 32-year-old goalie was forced to prove herself in Iranian newspapers. Koudaei played a crucial part in Iran's 4-2 victory over Jordan as she saved two penalties to help her side qualify for the women's Asian Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India in January next year. Both Jordan and Iran failed to score a goal in the first 90 minutes of the game, which saw them fight it out in the penalty shoot-out. 

Image: @photosofootball/Twitter