The Controversial Photo Incident with the U.S. Women's Ski Team

The Iranian national ski team returned from the World Championships in Finland without Alireza Maqdid. Officials from the Ski Federation express ignorance about his situation. Alireza Maqdid, as one of Iran's national athletes, participated in the World Championships but did not accompany the rest of the team upon their return. He then published messages from the President of the Ski Federation on Instagram, which contained a strong reaction to Maqdid's souvenir photos taken in Finland. The President of the Ski Federation confirmed the authenticity of the messages in various interviews. Seyyed Abdi Eftekhari stated, 'Maqdid posted inappropriate images on his Instagram that I asked him to delete. He promised to do so but unfortunately did not.' Eftekhari told the Mizan news site, 'I hope Maqdid comes to his senses and returns to the hotel. We must wait to see whether he returns or not, and after that, we will announce our position on this incident.' What are the 'inappropriate' images that the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Ski Federation is referring to? A look at Alireza Maqdid's social media page shows that after the national team's trip to Finland, he published two public photos in official competition attire alongside five members of the U.S. women's ski team. Jessie Diggins, a world champion in the 2013 sprint team, and a silver medalist in the 2015 10 km freestyle, along with a silver and bronze from the same World Championships in Finland. Sadie Bjornsen, a bronze medalist in the team sprint at these championships, is also present in the photos. Liz Stephen, another American national team member who also participated in the Sochi Winter Olympics, is in the photo. The page, which had about 300 followers before the Ski Federation President's interview, now has over 700. Even this number indicates a completely private page. Similar photos have been seen multiple times in various sports for Iran's national teams and athletes across different age categories. It has never happened before that a federation president personally requested the removal of photos from athletes' personal pages. In another interview, Eftekhari told ISNA news agency, 'He acted like a youth. If he returns, we will neither imprison him nor execute him. Finland rejects migrants in over 90% of cases, and Maqdid is not a well-known champion. I believe he will definitely return to Iran.' Mohammad Reza Davarzani, Deputy Minister of Sports, also criticized Maqdid's decision to leave the Iranian national team's camp and called for 'wise behavior' from him. Davarzani told reporters on the sidelines of the Weightlifting Federation Assembly, 'The federation and the diplomatic apparatus are following the matter to ensure he returns. I hope he makes a wise decision. This action is inappropriate for himself, his family, and for the country.' Bahram Saveh Shamshaki, the Secretary of the Ski Federation, expressed ignorance about Maqdid's situation and told Tasnim news site, 'Our caravan arrived in Tehran from Japan. We have no new news about Maqdid.' A week after the announcement, Maqdid not only fail to delete the photos in question from his Instagram but also wrote in his latest post addressed to the President of the Ski Federation: 'You are like a heartless, soulless, and talent-killing iceberg.'