Iranian goalkeeper Sosha Makani has been suspended from domestic competition for six months for a curious “offense:” He wore yellow pants that authorities considered evocative of SpongeBob Squarepants.
According to The Guardian, a committee tasking with policing the morality of Iran’s soccer federation deemed the flamboyant pants inappropriate and barred the 29-year-old Makani for half a year, pending appeal.
The linking of Makani’s appearance with the American cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants appears to stem from the fact that he was wearing lurid yellow trousers. American fictional characters, such as Mickey Mouse and Barbie, have not been particularly popular with the Iranian authorities, with shops selling their toys having been targeted in the past. Makani’s T-shirt also appears to show a swear word in English.
An unnamed member of the morality committee was quoted by Varzesh3 as saying that Makani had refused to go to the federation to face questioning on the matter, despite being being summoned. “We took this decision because of his appearance and the impact it can have on the society,” the official was quoted as saying.
#FACT Iran goalkeeper Sosha Makani has today been suspend for wearing 'Spongebob Squarepants' trousers. pic.twitter.com/xQApnVzOfu
— ThePuntersPage.com (@ThePuntersPage) June 8, 2016
So obviously it’s ridiculous (at least by Western standards) to punish someone for what they wear, but even if you accept Iran’s desire to stamp out American culture at all costs this is a weird decision. Best we can tell, Makani’s pants don’t actually have an image of SpongeBob on them, so these officials are just equating bright yellow with a TV show whose main character happens to be the same color?
This isn’t the first time Makani has gotten in trouble with Iranian authorities. He was briefly jailed earlier this year after images appeared on social media of him posing with women not wearing a hijab, which is required by Iranian law.
Makani plays for Persepolis in the Iran Pro League and has played for his country’s national team.
If Makani’s suspension isn’t lifted on appeal, it will go down as one of the most ridiculous sports punishments of all-time. We all know SpongeBob isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s not worth suspending someone over.
