Iranian footballer protests hijab enforcement back home in ISL; receives yellow card

Vafa Hakhamaneshi escaped his marker, powered the ball past goalkeeper, dashed towards the cameras and lifted his t-shirt. Such goal celebrations are rather common in football but Vafa wanted to use the moment — his first goal in India and his club Chennaiyin — to send out a message.
On the vest of the Iranian footballer were words of support for the women in his country. They read: #women #life #freedom for 11:11.
These words have gained resonance among Iranians in the last few months. Following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody in Tehran on September 13, arrested for not wearing the Hijab, protests have erupted across the country.

The words on Vafa’s vest were reportedly chanted during Amini’s funeral protesters, who are breaking the hijab law as a show of dissent. And in the days that followed, Iran’s footballers joined in.
However, the show of solidarity, which came in the Indian Super League match against East Bengal on Friday, resulted in Vafa receiving a second yellow card, and thus being sent off. According to the rules, players are sanctioned referees if they remove their shirt during celebration or even of they lift a shirt to reveal a political message.
Hakhamaneshi, however, did not seem deterred. The 31-year-old Iranian was already shown a yellow card for a foul in the 60th minute.
His goal nine minutes later, though, was enough for Chennaiyin to seal the win. Chennaiyin defeated East Bengal 1-0, their second win of the season while the Kolkata side suffered its fourth defeat in front of more than 17,000 fans.
Hakhamaneshi, a defender, joined Chennaiyin from Thai club Ratchaburi ahead of this season.

Iran’s footballers have shown support to Amini, leading with their talismanic attacker Sardar Azmoun, who posted a social media message last month. Then, during their final match ahead of the World Cup against Senegal, the Iranian team came out of the dugout wearing black jackets to cover their national team logos during the national anthem in support of the women of Iran.
Other football legends like former Bayern Munich player, once dubbed the ‘Asian Maradona,’ Ali Karimi, and Iran striker Ali Daei were also vocal in their support on social media. Iranian player Zobeir Niknafs also shaved his head in solidarity with Amini and Iranian women.