An Iranian goalkeeper who once represented Iran’s national soccer team at the World Cup has been suspended for six months after a picture surfaced online showing him wearing yellow pants that authorities described as SpongeBob SquarePants trousers.
The photo of Sosha Makani, 29, was initially posted on social media May 6 before a game for Tehran’s professional Persepolis club. A committee charged with policing the morality of Iran’s football federation imposed the suspension because of his clothing, the Guardian reports.
"Inappropriate conduct".
Iran goalkeeper banned for wearing SpongeBob SquarePants trousers: https://t.co/OeHmbfmVyJ pic.twitter.com/saC3AcUIYS
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 9, 2016
The morality committee summoned Makani to face questions about the matter, and when he did not appear in front of the panel, the goalie was suspended for "inappropriate conduct," according to the ISNA news agency. ISNA also said the decision is not final and that Makani can appeal his suspension.
"We made the decision based on the clothing of this national football team player and the impact it can have on society," an unnamed member of the committee told Varzesh3, an Iranian sports news agency.
Although Makani’s clothing did not show SpongeBob SquarePants at all, the yellow dotted pants that showed his ankles apparently resembled the animated television character too closely.
The Iranian theocratic regime views Western culture as a corrupting influence on society that is un-Islamic. Authorities have been particularly concerned with how prominent figures such as athletes and celebrities appear in public.
Many Iranians reacted with outrage to Makani’s suspension over social media, with some using humor to express their disapproval. One Twitter user joked that if Makani had worn a pair of SpongeBob boxers, he would have been given a death sentence, according to the Guardian.
Activists are fearful that the Iranian government is taking an increasingly hardline stance on people’s dress and behavior, especially in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal. Some analysts have argued that the regime has sought to bolster its anti-American and anti-Western bona fides after striking a diplomatic agreement with the United States and other world powers.
Makani, who played for Iran’s national team at the World Cup in 2014, has previously been in trouble with Iranian authorities. Multiple photos were leaked on social media showing him posing with women who were not wearing the mandatory hijab. Makani was temporarily jailed in January at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison.
Iran has strict laws restricting unrelated men and women from intermingling and closely monitors how women dress. Several Iranian models were arrested last month for violating rules on wearing the hijab and for posting pictures of themselves online with their hair showing.
There was outrage in the country last month when images of a popular Iranian actress, Taraneh Alidoosti, 32, emerged showing a feminist tattoo on her arm.
Many Iranians have been especially worried since the recent establishment of an undercover division of the state’s morality police, which critics fear will focus most on enforcing the government-mandated Islamic dress code.