Iran's passionate love affair with football is under strain after it was suspended from international competition because of alleged government meddling.
The ban - ordered by football's world governing body, Fifa - jeopardises Iran's chances of participating in next year's Asian Cup finals, for which it qualified last week by beating South Korea.
It was imposed after the country's sports body ignored a Fifa deadline to reinstate Mohammed Dadkan as president of the Iranian Football Federation. Mr Dadkan was sacked last June amid fierce criticism of the national team's performance in the World Cup finals in Germany. Iran, currently 38th in Fifa's world rankings, lost to Mexico and Portugal before drawing with Angola.
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