Image by Getty Images

(JTA) — Iran reportedly has removed two players from its national soccer team after they competed against an Israeli team.

Haji Safi and Masoud Shojaei play for the Greek soccer club Panionios, which last week competed against Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv team in the Europa League’s third qualifying round second leg held in Greece. The Greek team lost.

“Shojaei and Haji Safi have no place in Iran’s national football team any more because they crossed the country’s red line,” Deputy Sports Minister Mohammad Reza Davarzani said on state television, according to the French news agency AFP.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Davarzani acknowledged that in the previous round, the players had declined to travel with their team to play in Israel despite receiving “pressure.”

“Well done to Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi who broke the taboo of not playing in matches against Israeli athletes,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on its Farsi language Twitter account, according to reports.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount