Two of the club’s directors sued Rowshan for libel and he is believed to have provided insufficient evidence to defend himself against the charges in court.
![a man wearing a suit and tie: Hassan Rowshan has been accused of "spreading lies and causing public unrest”]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"24","h":"15","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAGvS63.img?h=153&w=245&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=133&y=54"}})
“I have no money to pay and would happily go to receive the lashes. But I ask the authorities to carry out the lashing in Amjadiya stadium in Tehran,” he said. “I thank Allah for this verdict and obey the court’s ruling.”
Mahmood Sarabi, who played along Rowshan and is currently the coach of Pars football club, the youth Iranian football team in north London, says the choice of stadium is a symbolic one.
“All the glories of Iranian football both on domestic and international stages have been achieved at Amjadiya and Hassan Rowshan has been an inseparable part of these glories.
“By challenging the authorities to lash him at the national stadium, he is implying that they are lashing the country’s football and its pride history”, Sarabi told the Telegraph.
![a group of people wearing costumes: Football is the most popular sport in Iran]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"50","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAGvEgW.img?h=499&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=493&y=333"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"39","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAGvEgW.img?h=390&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=493&y=333"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"39","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAGvEgW.img?h=390&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=493&y=333"}})
© EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT Football is the most popular sport in Iran His “Brazilian style” of playing made him a national figure and he became the record goal scorer of any national team.
Football in Iran has been closely intertwined with politics, both domestic and international. As such, corruption and cronyism in the country’s football clubs, largely run by former commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, has been on rampage
A popular Iranian footballer who trained as a manager at Aston Villa has asked the country’s judiciary to carry out his punishment of 74 lashes in a national stadium in a symbolic gesture of defiance, after being found guilty of “spreading lies and causing public unrest”.
Two of the club’s directors sued Rowshan for libel and he is believed to have provided insufficient evidence to defend himself against the charges in court.
“I have no money to pay and would happily go to receive the lashes. But I ask the authorities to carry out the lashing in Amjadiya stadium in Tehran,” he said. “I thank Allah for this verdict and obey the court’s ruling.”
Mahmood Sarabi, who played along Rowshan and is currently the coach of Pars football club, the youth Iranian football team in north London, says the choice of stadium is a symbolic one.
“All the glories of Iranian football both on domestic and international stages have been achieved at Amjadiya and Hassan Rowshan has been an inseparable part of these glories.
“By challenging the authorities to lash him at the national stadium, he is implying that they are lashing the country’s football and its pride history”, Sarabi told the Telegraph.
© EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT Football is the most popular sport in Iran His “Brazilian style” of playing made him a national figure and he became the record goal scorer of any national team.
Football in Iran has been closely intertwined with politics, both domestic and international. As such, corruption and cronyism in the country’s football clubs, largely run by former commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, has been on rampage
