Iran World Cup squad include banned stars

TEHERAN: Iran announced their squad for the 2018 World Cup, with two midfield stars making the cut despite being banned last year for playing against an Israeli team.

Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi were among the 35 players announced by Iran’s Football Federation on their website on Sunday.

Sports officials said last August that Masoud, 33, and Ehsan, 28, would be banned for life after appearing for their Greek club Panionios against an Israeli team.

Iran do not recognise the Jewish state and bar their athletes from appearing against Israelis.

But there was uproar from fans and confusion reigned over the issue, with Masoud returning to the national squad in March and Ehsan never actually banned.

Iran are unable to openly discuss the ban on facing Israelis because it breaches international sporting regulations.

There were no surprises in the rest of the squad, but Iranian fans will be pinning their hopes on 24-year-old winger and attacking midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who plays for Holland’s AZ Alkmaar.

This season, Alireza became the first Asian player to become top scorer in a major European league, with 21 league goals.

Iran’s national team have been coached the past seven years by Portugal’s Carlos Queiroz, a former one-season manager at Real Madrid and an assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

Team Melli face a tough group in the World Cup, with Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Iran had a strong run in qualifiers, becoming the first to book their place from the Asian Football Confederation. — AFP