(CNN) – Iran’s semi-official “Tasnim” news agency said on Monday that a plane bound for Dubai with the wife and daughter of “Iranian football legend” Ali Daei “had to return to Iran.”
The news agency added that the player’s wife and daughter were prevented from leaving Iran “for failing to inform the relevant authorities of the decision to leave, despite having received orders to do so.”
Tasnim indicated that his wife was prevented from leaving the country by court order “for her participation in riots and inciting a strike between 24 and 26 November, as well as between 14 and 16 December”.
He added that his daughter is legally allowed to leave and stressed that his wife and daughter’s final destination was America.
The Iranian News Agency (IRNA) said the plane had received orders to land at Kish Airport in Iran, where the family was ordered to leave the airport, but clarified that his wife and player’s daughter were not under arrest despite boarding the plane “illegally”.
Ali Daei has been a staunch supporter of the protests in Iran, which erupted when a young woman, Mahsa Amini, died in September after being arrested by Iranian police for “morality”.
Recently, Daei declined an invitation to participate in the World Cup in Qatar as an expression of his solidarity with the Iranian protesters.
“Instead of repression, violence and arrests of the Iranian people, they solved their problems,” Daei wrote on Instagram in September.
CNN reached out to Ali Daei for comment.
