Former soccer player and coach Ali Daei accused Iranian authorities of diverting a plane carrying his family members and forcing it to land after he supported protests in the country.
- Ali Daei has recently received threats for supporting the demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini
- Iran’s biggest idol even called for the country’s exclusion from the World Cup in Qatar
- Iran tried to prevent the former player’s family from traveling to Dubai and diverted the flight to the Iranian island of Kish
- Dae’s wife and daughter had to get off the plane
“I don’t understand this behavior. My wife and daughter boarded the plane legally in Tehran and planned to visit Dubai for a few days and then fly back to Iran. But the plane was forced to return with all passengers. Was that it? Terrorist?”. Ali Daei, former player and coach.
Daei’s family was picked up by Mahan Air, the W563, from Tehran to Dubai after police ordered the plane to land on Kish Island, Iran. However, they were not arrested. The information comes from BBC Monitoring journalist Kian Sharifi.
Iranian authorities today ordered Mahan Air Flight W563 from Tehran to Dubai to land on Kish Island, forcing the wife and child of former soccer player Ali Daei off the plane.
Daei, a supporter of the protests, says his family has not been arrested. He wasn’t on the plane. pic.twitter.com/h3CRg3EgfM
Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) December 26, 2022
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council banned his wife from leaving Tehran by executive order for their “association” with antigovernment groups.
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The Iranian football idol said in November he had been threatened after supporting the demonstrations for the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22yearold Iranian Kurdish woman who died on September 16, three days after she was arrested by vice squads for not following the strict dress code imposed by the regime.
In October, the former centreforward was among a group of active or retired athletes who petitioned FIFA, calling for the immediate suspension of the Football Federation of Iran and his team’s consequent disqualification from the Cup, which would begin in just under a month.
In the same month, the former attacker told AFP that police had confiscated his passport. for a few days when he returned to Iran.
On September 27, Ali Daei urged the authorities to “solve the problems facing the Iranian people instead of resorting to repression, violence and arrests.”
Who is Ali Daei?
Daei was the top scorer in the history of international men’s football until the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo overtook him in this statistic in September 2021.
He was also the first Iranian player to play in Europe.at German club Arminia Bielefeld before joining Bayern Munich and then Hertha Berlin.
* with information from ANSA and AFP agencies