Summoning of 'Semi-Nude Female Athletes' to the Culture Prosecutor's Office in Tehran

Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, reported on Tuesday, September 30, the summoning of two female athletes and four coaches in bodybuilding to the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office in Tehran. According to an exclusive report by this news agency, these individuals were summoned in connection with the publication of 'semi-nude images' on social media. Mizan News and several other news organizations, including Fars News Agency and Young Journalists Club, affiliated with the Islamic Republic's broadcasting organization, referred to these two female athletes as 'pseudo-athletes' and published their photos pixelated. The identities of these two female athletes and their coaches have not been disclosed. Mizan News reported that without quoting any official, these two female athletes participated in 'overseas' bodybuilding competitions after being trained by male coaches and published 'semi-nude' images of themselves on social media, which led to the formation of a case against them in the second branch of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office. The news agency also reported the prohibition of activity and travel for the coaches of these two female athletes until the completion of investigations and interrogations. The report states: 'Despite the fact that the Bodybuilding Federation has explicitly stated that due to religious and legal issues, women have no activities in this field and our women show no interest in this sport for the same reasons, some have committed violations in this regard for specific reasons and personal gains.' The summoning of Iranian athletes to the prosecutor's office and the formation of cases against them regarding their activities on social media has a history. One of these individuals was Sosha Makani, the goalkeeper of the Persepolis football team and the Iranian national team, who was arrested last December following the publication of his photos on Telegram and was released after six days on a bail of one billion tomans. Sosha Makani stated that these images were private photos of him and his fiancée and were published following the theft of his mobile phone. A few days after Sosha Makani's arrest, Mizan News reported the summoning of another football player to the special sports crimes branch of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office. In a report published on January 7, 2016, it was stated that this former national football team player and Persepolis player was summoned to provide some explanations. Mizan News did not disclose the identity of this football player and did not clarify whether the summoning of this football player was related to Sosha Makani's case. Following the summoning and arrest of these athletes, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, warned athletes and artists in January 2016 about the publication of what he called 'inappropriate' and 'against Islamic norms' images in cyberspace.