Khoddad Afsharian Arrested in Connection with Mess Club Corruption Case

Khoddad Afsharian, the former head of the Referees Committee of the Football Federation, who was recently implicated in the corruption case of the Mess Rafsanjan club, has been arrested and sent to prison. The news of Afsharian's arrest was reported by several Iranian news agencies on Wednesday. Afsharian, who was also a member of the Executive Board of the Football Federation, resigned from his position in the Referees Committee after the Kerman judiciary announced that bribes had been paid to the defendants in this case. According to judicial officials, the violations in the Mess Kerman case date back to 1400 and earlier, when the Mess Rafsanjan club was promoted from the first division to the Premier League. The judicial case related to these violations was established last winter in the Kerman judiciary, and so far, in addition to Khoddad Afsharian, the name of Soheil Mahdi, head of the League Organization's Competitions Committee, has also been mentioned in connection with it. Both individuals resigned from their positions after their roles in this case were revealed. Previously, Mehdi Taj, the president of the Iranian Football Federation, mentioned these two and stated that four defendants in the Mess Kerman case had received '25 gold coins' as bribes. However, ISNA reported that on Saturday of this week, five defendants were summoned to court during the investigation of the Mess Rafsanjan club corruption case. Reports indicate that several active referees in Iranian football and at least one media figure have also been summoned to court in this case. On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the judiciary announced that the Mess Rafsanjan case is at the stage of 'summoning defendants.'