Isa Al Kasir, The Persepolis Center Forward, was given the heaviest sanction possible by AFC for celebrating his goal against Pakhtakor. To add insult to injury, the 6-month ban came right before kick-off between Persepolis and Al Nasr in the Semi-Final of AFC Champions League 2020 in Doha.

No person would argue that contemptuous, discriminatory, or denigratory remarks or gesture has no place in football and any offender’s ban is justifiable, however, amongst the many experts that this website has asked, no one seems to know what exactly was the insulting behavior or any of those violations in Al Kasir’s gesture!!!

No one in his right mind would believe that the AFC  disciplinary committee while sitting a few thousand miles away in Kuala Lumpur,  has the divine power of correctly interpreting the signs that Al Kasir as being discriminatory, racist, or any incriminating offense. If no one in Iran knows, at least the experts that we approached, anything about discriminatory or the racial sign of Al Kasir’s celebration or even what it means.  How on earth, AFC did the trick?

What we have managed to collect, however, is some photos of Al Kasir identical celebration in the domestic league when he was playing for Naft Abadan.

Isa Al Kasir Rajabi has joined Persepolis on 1st September 2020, from Sanat Naft. He has scored in three consecutive games for Persepolis in the AFC Champions League 2020 and was considered the most important and pivotal player of the team going into the crucial clash against Al Nasr of Saudi Arabia.

However, three hours before the kick-off the news of his heavy ban based on unsubstantiated, unproven, and haphazard theory has shocked the squad. The timing was a perfect bonus for the opponent as good as AFC handing the match to Al Nast before the actual kick-off.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Disciplinary and Ethics Committee decision, lacked any explanation of the nature of the so-called insulative behavior of the Persepolis player. There was also no sign on what was deemed unsporting, contemptuous, discriminatory, or denigratory in Al Kasir’s gesture, which he frequently performs after goal celebration. Al Kasir’s brother has told a local reporter that this gesture is a private game between him and his brother and has nothing to do with any race, religion, or any political opinion.

Such a heavy sentence deserves much more explanation. As a basic Human right, which the AFC is trying to protect, hearing the accused is a principle right. Was Isa Al Kasir given the chance to explain this gesture? What is the level of the committee’s knowledge of Iranian culture in Khuzestan and where did they reckon this violation has occurred?

When the Bahraini player was given a 10 match ban, with a similar gesture, he was clearly insulting the Chinese. There was no Chinese involved in the match against Pakhtakor and we doubt that Sanat Naft was playing a Chinese team in the domestic league when he carried out a similar celebration.

AFC has a lot of explanation to do to preserve the little reputation that it has in the West Asia region. Failure to act promptly will mean that AFC has developed a dictatorial power and has little regard for the spirit of the game, the fans, and the media. We hope that AFC is courageous enough to deal with this issue fairly and apologize for what looks like a serious error of judgment.