Reza Shajie, head of the Environment and Sustainable Development Office at the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, announced that the picture of Iranian cheetah will appear on football players’ shirts once again following the recent talks with the Football Federation.
According to a report by Fars, as translated by IFP, Shajie added that measures have been taken to print the pictures of 50 endangered species on the outfits of 50 different sports.
“The International Federation has no authority over the laws and regulations of Olympics. In order to print the picture of cheetah or other animals on our sports clothing, we had to start required correspondence with the National Olympic Committee two years earlier.”
“The Football Federation, having had the experience before, proposed it once again because it yielded good and tangible results,” he noted.
“This measure enhanced people’s general knowledge about Iranian cheetah and more importantly, we received reports about a decrease in hunting this animal.”
Shajie went on to say that Iran is the first country to print the image of an endangered cheetah, not only on its football players’ shirts, but also on the buses dedicated to its national football team.
“I hope other federations take the same path soon,” he said.
Iran’s Mountaineering & Sport Climbing Federation has put the picture of wild goat on the sleeves of its national team’s shirts; the Squash Federation went for Iranian cheetah, and all the Paralympic athletes had the image of common cuckoo on their shirts in the recent farewell ceremony attended by President Hassan Rouhani.
