Iranian footballers banned from selfies with female fans at Asian Cup

Footballers representing Iran at this month's Asian Cup have been threatened with punishment if they pose for selfies with female fans.

There are tens of thousands of Iranian expatriates currently living in Australia, where the tournament is taking place, and rules about gender segregation in force at sporting events in Iran do not apply there.

Strict laws about a woman's dress code are also irrelevant down under, which has startled officials in Iran who are seeing social media posts of players posing with female supporters dressed in summer attire.

The head of Iran's Football Federation disciplinary committee has warned players about the dangers involved and threatened to punish any who disobey his orders.

Ali Akbar Mohamedzade told Iran's Shahrvand newspaper that "players are not allowed to pose for selfies with female fans.

"They (the female fans) may later use these photos for political ransom against our country or sue the players for harassment.

"If the players refuse to act according to our clear instructions then we will be left with no option but to deal with them."

Sex segregation rules prevent women from attending men's matches back in Iran, where images showing women dressed "inappropriately" have been censored out of media coverage.

Iran's national team manager, the former Man United assistant Carlos Quieroz, has also been contacted by Mohamedzade.

"I have had to contact the national coach and questioned him about this issue and he has explicitly denied having agreed to posting of such selfies on social networks," he said.