Sardar Azmoun, one of Iran's top football players, has been expelled from the national team for a perceived act of disloyalty to the government, Iranian media has reported, making it unlikely he will play any part in the World Cup.
Iran's participation in the World Cup as a whole is under a cloud because of the ongoing conflict with the United States, who are co-hosting the 11 June-19 July tournament with Mexico and Canada, reports Reuters.
If Team Melli do turn up for their opening-round group matches, they will undoubtedly be weakened by the absence of striker Azmoun, who has scored 57 goals in 91 internationals since making his debut as a teenager in 2014.
Azmoun, who plays his club football in the United Arab Emirates for Shabab Al-Ahli, upset the Iranian authorities this week by posting a picture on his Instagram feed of a meeting with Dubai's ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Iran has launched rocket and drone attacks on the UAE following air strikes by the United States and Israel, which killed the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A report on the Fars News Agency, which has links to the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, cited "an informed source within the national team" as saying Azmoun had been expelled from the squad.
Azmoun later removed the pictures but was still lambasted on state TV on Thursday with football pundit Mohammad Misaghi saying the striker's actions had been an act of disloyalty.
"It's unfortunate that you don't have enough sense to understand what kind of behaviour is appropriate at a given time," Misaghi said.
"We should not mince words with such people. They should be told that they are not worthy of wearing the national team jersey.
"We have no patience for this sulking and childish behaviour. National team players should be people who proudly belt out the national anthem and deserve to wear the Iran jersey."
There was no immediate response to a request for comment on the matter from the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI).
Azmoun, 31, is one of the best-known footballers in Iran, where the game is a national obsession.
He has played his entire club career abroad with stints at Zenit Saint Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Roma as well as featuring for Iran in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
An unsourced report on the Novad News channel said on Thursday that an order had been issued for the seizure of the assets of Azmoun, another UAE-based national team forward Mehdi Ghayedi, and former international Soroush Rafiei.
Misaghi was speaking against the backdrop of pictures of a ceremony welcoming the Iranian women's national team back to Tehran on their return from Australia.
Seven of the delegation accepted asylum in Australia after the team was branded "wartime traitors" on Iranian state TV for not singing the national anthem before a Women's Asian Cup match. Five later decided to return to Iran.
Iran's men are scheduled to play friendly internationals in Antalya, Turkey against Nigeria on 27 March and Costa Rica four days later as part of their World Cup preparations.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
