The Iranian Soccer Players Who "Groped" Each Other After Goals Could Face Public Lashings On The Pitch

On Saturday, Persepolis F.C., a soccer club based in Tehran, scored a goal against Damash Gilan. After the goal, the players gathered to celebrate, as players will do. One of the players, Mohammad Nosrati, sorta stuck his hand in the ass-balls region of one of his teammates, Sheys Rezaei, as players will also do, although less frequently. Rezaei immediately swatted Nosrati's hand away.

Later in the game, Persepolis scored again to clinch a 3-2 victory. Again, the players gathered to celebrate. This time, Rezaei wanted revenge and played a little grab ass with Nosrati (fast forward to 0:26):

Both players were "banned indefinitely from all football activities for committing immoral acts," according to a killjoy in the Iranian football federation. The players were also each fined 500 million rials (around $40,000). But that's not enough, it seems. The "semiofficial" Fars News Agency reports that the players might be whipped for their transgressions, right on the field where the assgrabbery transpired. From :

A judiciary official told Fars that Nosrati and Rezaei could also face public lashings, to be carried out on the soccer pitch where the behavior occurred.

According to the norms of ultra-conservative Iran, the players' "action can be considered a violation of public chastity," Judge Valiollah Hosseini told the news agency. "The punishment of this crime is prison up to two months and 74 lashes."

"It is even worse to do these actions before the eyes of thousands of spectators and TV cameras," Hosseini added.

Warning to all NBA players looking for overseas work: Avoid Iran.