Ghafouri and Mosalman suspended indefinitely for Ghalyoon

[Leicester City]

[Sly]

Can someone please explain why smoking ghalyoon is so frowned upon....it's completely legal in Iran....

IFF have forbidden smoking tobacco in all form or shape for all players to make example of how sports and sportsmen should stay away from it. I think it's good.

[greenguy4life]

It's very unprofessional. Obviously it's not a serious drug in the short term, has more of a long term effect, however it's still a drug. And just because it's part of our culture doesn't make it any better... It's like if a Dutch player was smoking weed and said well it's legal in my country. As I said it's not as bad as weed but at the end of the day, you need to be a professional and a role model.

[AllStarMomo]

Hagheshooneh!
Its a rule that its forbidden to smoke.
They broke this law = Bann.

Blame the players not anyone else!

[BacheLot]

maximum a 2-3 game ban. Indefinitely...wTF?!?!

seriously.... like WTF..!!?

"Indefinitely" is certainly a huge Overkill of a punishment ..!!
makes you wonder WTF the folks in IFF disciplinary are smoking ?? coming up with such ignorant rulings, left & right..!

i think 2-4 club game bans should suffice, or a month long absence at most from the national team picture..! after all players by default are role-models for the youngins and need to present themselves more appropriately in public..!!

[pajamNL]

overreacting, only in Iran

[Karimi 8]

This is a tough topic because you can make a case for both sides of the argument. These are professional athletes, and athletic boards always have rules and regulations, which sometimes are stricter than rules enforced for everyday people, for example marijuana is considered a banned substance in many sports in the US, while it is legal now in many states. This is a similar case, one could argue that these are professional athletes, they get paid a lot of money, and they are subject to abiding by the rules that are listed.

However, one can also question how big of an impact this rule has (based on what it wants to accomplish, i.e. using athletes as an example of healthy living, and encouraging youth not to smoke hooka). Does it really have a huge impact? Also, is the severity of this punishment equal to the "crime" committed?

At the end of the day, usually in these cases the middle ground creates the most fair argument. These guys broke a rule that they are well aware of, and they should have enough strength and commitment to their profession and their fans not to smoke. However, this is obviously way too strict of a ban, and making a "case" out of these players to discourage smoking hooka among regular citizens isn't really effective in my opinion. They should have received maybe a few games ban max. I am disappointed in these players' decision and I also don't agree with a punishment this intense.

[AllStarMomo]

Guys these rules are not only in IRAN!
There are european clubs who dont want crazy hairstyles or players to have tattoos. So everybody has some rules. Funny everybody is blaming Iran or the federation and not the 2 players hwo couldnt be professional and avoid smoking.

[teammelli91]

What.. The ****..

[sarbaz]

Since when Ghelyoon is illegal in Iran ?

[teammelli91]

Since when Ghelyoon is illegal in Iran ?

Since whenever they want to add new rules and regulations to their "religious" book. It's haram and unprofessional.

[Ando Teymourian]

The argument (which I believe) is that the Ghafouri picture is photoshopped.

There is a picture of him in Azadi kissing a ball and his head looks the exact same as the gheyloon picture.

[webmaster]

Too harsh.. it was done before and nothing was done to these footballers, but a few months ban would be enough for these players IMO.

[enikoravesh]

yea just like how martinez left Naigollan out for his smoking habits. guy chooses witsel over naigollan wtf... naigollan smokes a pack day and still outruns witsel by miles!

[Persian-Pride87]

This is ridiculous. I don't think its the federations place to tell grown men how to live their lives. Especially for something like smoking ghelyoon which is so prevalent and really it is a part of Iranian culture. Now if these guys were smoking crack or shooting up heroin in front of cameras that would be a different matter.

My view is this. If the activity the athlete is taking part in is LEGAL in that country then the athlete has every right to do it. Some here have mentioned how marijuana is illegal and in the West athletes get punished if caught smoking it. I think there is a difference between smoking ghelyoon (legal) vs smoking marijuana (illegal).

If the athletes want to be like role models and stay away from some behavior that is frowned upon (such as smoking ghelyoon) then that is something up to them as individuals.

Morality is not something that should be legislated.