Chennaiyin’s Hakhamaneshi scores winner against East Bengal [VIDEO]

Indianexpress.com – KOLKATA, 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.

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.

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.

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 by 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.