This week saw Iran play Spain in their group game of the Russia 2018 World Cup. As all TV shows involving the tournament, the show of state broadcaster ITRV Tehran had been able to invite a famous soccer analyst to comment on the game afterwards and analyze the play.
The soccer-crazy Iranians would certainly all tune in to see anything involving Iran-Spain (see our related coverage) and so host Mr Adel Ferdosipour had gone out of his way to book an important Spanish player to boost the credibility of his World Cup show.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Women are able to watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FifaWorldCup18?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FifaWorldCup18</a> games but the perverted behavior of officials persists: <br>TV interview Spanish <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> player, <a href="https://twitter.com/Carles5puyol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Carles5puyol</a> was cancelled because of his long curly hair and the possible attraction to it. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B3_%D9%BE%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%84?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#_</a> <a href="https://t.co/wHkA0qTYGN">pic.twitter.com/wHkA0qTYGN</a></p>— Marjan (@MarjanKg) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarjanKg/status/1010362178816368641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2018</a></blockquote>
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He succeeded in convincing Mr Carles Puyol, the former Spanish team captain who lifted the 2010 World Cup trophy in South Africa, to come on. Mr Puyol travelled to Tehran and, after checking into his hotel, was driven to the television studios. However, the Iranian mullahs in the end did not allow Mr Puyol to appear on tv, leaving Mr Ferdosipour to explain on live TV that: "You must be aware that Carles Puyol was scheduled to be with us tonight. However, he is in his hotel right now. I did everything I could but it didn't happen. I apologize.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="fa" dir="rtl"> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D9%BE%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%84?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#</a> : <br> ( ) !<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%84?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%84_%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B3%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%B1?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#_</a> <a href="https://t.co/neNI44Rcgt">pic.twitter.com/neNI44Rcgt</a></p>— (@IranVarzeshi) <a href="https://twitter.com/IranVarzeshi/status/1009787351839789056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">21 June 2018</a></blockquote>
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As the Iranian youth started questioning on social media why one of the star Barcelona players would not appear on TV, many theories were launched, until the state broadcaster explained the day after the match that it had been decided to ban Mr Puyol ‘because of his looks,’ aka his long hair.
Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/29195-World-Cup-Defying-Stadium-Ban-Iranian-Women-Travel-10-000km-To-Watch-Team
Although there is no official hairstyle policy, Iranian state TV, like many others in Asia and the Middle East, is strictly against broadcasting anything considered "un-Islamic" by the religious government. According to the ‘Charter of Ethics and Behaviour’ sporting athletes which help "spread foreign culture" are therefore deemed inappropriate by the authorities.
The backlash amongst young Iranians was great and although most of them were outraged, one dared to asked the obvious question to the TV broadcaster: "Had you not seen Puyol before you spent a ton of money and invited him, only to ban him from appearing on TV?"
To give you an idea of his current hairstyle, Mr Puyol appeared on Russian TV earlier this week, together with former Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas, for the Portugal-Spain coverage (main picture).
Source:
https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/carles-puyols-long-hair-cost-him-a-television-gig-this-week-185689
Twitter: #TomArnold #LivePD #GeorgeWill #QAnon #VinniePaul #WorldCup
What, which one has the bad hair?