Iranian player suspended for six months over racist goal celebration
The AFC decided to ban Perspolis' Isa Al-Kasir from all football-related activities and fine him 10,000 dollars due to his allegedly racist goal celebration.
The AFC discipline and ethics committee suspended Perspolis' player Isa Al-Kasir from any football-related activity and decided to fine him 10,000 dollars. This came as a result of the goal celebration he performed against Pakhtakor in the quarter-finals of the ongoing Asian Champions League.
A brace from Isa Al-Kasir secured Perspolis's qualification to the tournament's semi-final on 30 September before the AFC decided to punish the Iranian side's top scorer for his celebration.
Al-Kasir, whose goal was chosen as the best goal of the round according to the survey done by the AFC, used his hands to pull the sides of his eyelids to tighten his eyes. This was deemed by the disciplinary committee to be a racial gesture against Uzbekistani people and Asians generally, and therefore decided to punish the player just a few hours before his team's clash against Al-Nassr in the semi-final.
Al-Kasir claims his celebration was a tribute to his cousin
In his defence, the player asserted that his celebration was a tribute to his cousin and was never meant to be offensive or derogatory to any ethnicity, adding that he had pulled off the same celebration in the domestic league and no action was taken against him.
Despite missing their man, Perspolis still managed to secure their place in the final after beating Al-Nassr 5-3 in a penalty shootout following a 1-1 draw.
Having scored four goals in ALC, Al-Kasir was in the race for the title of the competition's top scorer, sitting in second place behind Al-Nassr's Abdulrazzak Hamdallah who notched up his seventh goal in the semi-final.
The discipline and ethics committee of AFC suspended Perspolis's player Isa Al-Kasir from any football-related activity and decided to fine him 10000 dollars as a result of the goal celebration he pulled off against Pakhtakor in the quarter-finals the ongoing Asian champions league competition.
A brace from Isa Al-Kasir secured Perspolis's qualification to the tournament's semi-final on 30 September before AFC decided to punish the Iranian's side top scorer for his celebration after one of his 2 goals.