Ambiguity Surrounding Arrests in the Ministry of Sports

The Ministry of Sports and Youth has announced the arrest of several sports officials, citing the reason for this action as "purifying the sports environment to realize the leader's directives and the government's policies in combating corruption." According to a report from Fars News Agency on January 18, Reza Hasni-Khoo, the director of the central security office of the Ministry of Sports, stated that one of the detainees is from the ministry's headquarters, while two others are outside the sports management framework but are related to it. He emphasized, "According to the minister's order to confront irregularities in the Ministry of Sports, comprehensive investigations were conducted, and with the cooperation of supervisory bodies and the judiciary, three offenders were arrested." This security official in the Ministry of Sports noted that only some allegations have been made against these individuals, and it is possible that a non-prosecution order will be issued regarding all allegations. An interesting point in the Ministry of Sports' communication is that Reza Hasni-Khoo provided explanations about the arrests in a question-and-answer format on the Ministry's website. When asked about the reasons for corruption, he responded: lack of transparency in the financial system of federations, the appointment of unqualified individuals, failure to meet ethical qualifications, and several other reasons. Regarding actions taken to combat corruption in sports, Hasni-Khoo mentioned the establishment of an anti-corruption headquarters in the Ministry of Sports, the pursuit of a specialized branch to address crimes, the drafting of regulations, systematizing the entry of financial supporters, oversight in tenders and auctions, and addressing complaints through the formation of legal cases. However, this news seems similar to past reports about combating corruption, from exposing collusion in state clubs to fighting referee corruption in the football federation and the temporary suspension of some individuals. It is worth noting that the promise of a "complete investigation and root cause analysis of corruption" in Iranian sports has never been fulfilled. Even at various times, the 90th Article Commission or the Sports Fraction of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has promised that "soon" they will introduce the financial corruption network in sports. Nevertheless, the outcome of these promises has been nothing but their repeated appearances on television programs and providing vague clues about offenders who are never connected to military institutions or have no ties to government leaders or influential figures. This time, there are no names of the detainees mentioned. Even Nasrollah Sajadi, the deputy minister of sports, does not know them and has stated that he is not authorized to comment on this matter and is unaware of the details of the recent arrests. After the election assembly of the Ski Federation, Sajadi told reporters regarding the arrests: "These individuals can be introduced by responsible institutions, and we do not have permission to disclose names. The Ministry is determined to combat corruption to cleanse the sports environment from pollution." According to the Ministry of Sports' security office, information is in the hands of the judiciary, and ministry officials will seriously address any violations without the slightest consideration, "according to their legal and religious duties and in line with the realization of the leader's directives and the president's emphasis." This is a promise that the Ministry had previously made regarding financial violations in Persepolis Club. The Ministry of Sports dismissed the CEO of Persepolis and brought their candidate to power, but Hamidreza Siasi, the CEO of the Ministry itself, has also ended up in prison and remains in Evin without any information about the reasons for his arrest.