Persepolis Striker Alekasir Gets Six-Month Ban Hours before ACL Semi
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian striker Issa Alekasir has been handed a six-month ban by the Asian Football Confederation for a “discriminatory gesture” just hours before he was due to lead his club Persepolis into the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.
The 30-year-old forward, who has scored four times in the last three games in the competition, received the ban after making a slant-eyed gesture to television cameras after scoring against Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in the quarter-finals on Wednesday evening.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Disciplinary and Ethics Committee has banned Issa Alekasir, of Persepolis FC, from taking part in any kind of football-related activity for six months for violating Article 58.1 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code (2019 Edition). The ban will take effect immediately.
The player, who was also fined $10,000, was found to have used a discriminatory gesture during the AFC Champions League (West) game against Pakhtakor on Sept. 30, 2020 in Doha, Qatar.
Article 58.1 states that anyone who offends the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning race, skin color, gender, disability, language, age, physical appearance, religion, political opinion, wealth, birth or any other status, sexual orientation, or ethnic, national, or social origin has committed an offence.
Persepolis takes on Al-Nassr on Saturday with the winner facing the top club from the eastern half of the draw in the final on December 19.