Iran police arrests top footballers at New Year’s Eve party for alcohol consumption

Iranian police on Sunday arbitrarily arrested dozens of top football players in a political crackdown on the New Year’s Eve party in the east of Tehran. Alcohol was being served and the males and females mingled at the party in breach of the Islamic ban, Iranian media reported on Jan 1.

The football players, who were not identified by names, were detained on the same day as the Iranian authorities announced the release of a dissident journalist Keyvan Samimi, whom they arrested in December 2020 for allegedly “plotting against national security," Tasnim news agency reported. There was no immediate clarification on the exact number of footballers arrested. 

“Several current and former players of one of Tehran’s prominent football clubs were arrested last night at a mixed party in the city of Damavand," the agency noted. “Some of these players were in an abnormal state due to alcohol consumption," it continued. 

Men and women not allowed to mingle outside of marriage, alcohol banned 

Iran's laws do not allow men and women to mingle outside of marriage and as per the Sharia law, drinking alcohol within the Islamic Republic is also banned, with an exception to only non-Muslims.

The women are ordered to adhere to the strict dress code in accordance with Sharia, and the death of the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini in the morality police's custody sparked a movement against the clerical establishment, challenging the theocracy prevalent in Iran since 1979. Countrywide demonstrations against dress code rules and other Islamic laws that garnered global support have rocked the country since September 16.

Iranian authorities have since detained and sentenced to death, several protesters. Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) estimated that as many as 476 protesters have been killed in the protests against the Iranian regime.  On Sunday, although, Iran’s top court ordered the retrial of a third death row inmate. 

Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh was sentenced to death for allegedly destroying the highway railings and setting fire to trash cans and tires after he was arrested by the Iranian security forces. Nourmohammad-Zadeh was sentenced to death for being convicted of “moharebeh,” which means “enmity against God," his attorney, Hamed Ahmadi, told the ILNA news agency. 

“The appeal against the decision issued by a Tehran Revolutionary Court was upheld in the Supreme Court,” a statement related to the case shared on social media read.