FIFA rules dictate that a national football association must remain autonomous from the national government. However, on December 17, 2006, the ban was lifted and a new Interim Board was formed with Mohsen Safaei Farahani as chairman, Kioumars Hashemi as vice-chairman and Mohammad Hassan Ansarifar, Hassan Ghaffari, Mohammad Khabiri and Ali Reghbati as members.
The Federation and the Islamic government do not allow Iranian women into their stadiums. During the 2009 Iranian election protests , seven members of the national football team were reportedly initially banned for life by the federation for wearing green armbands in support of the Persian Green Movement. The Homeland women’s national football team was briefly banned from international competitions by FIFA in 2011 because they were forced to wear hijabs by the federation.
