He's fine now. When the firecracker exploded, the shrapnel that came off of it hit the players face and near the eye. That made him impossible to open his eye for a while. (when something hits around your eye, you naturally cringe and sometimes can't open your eyes for a while.) From what I heard from various places, the firecraker-throwers in Iran sometimes put pebbles in it so that it spreads all over the place when it explodes. THAT was meant to hurt someone and such things should be strictly restricted. It could have been Mahdavikia's eye that got hit and I'm sure the fans wouldn't like it if Mahdavikia goes blind.
It never hit his eyes, it was all fake. That's what AFC official present at the hospital concluded. Is this one of those "facts" again??? Where's your proof? ahhhhhh you & your logic!!!!
Well, no one's posted a link to a story since the first one and I didn't find any follow up article at the AFC site. Does anyone have a credible news source regarding the incident?
yeah what's going on with this situation? Is North Korea just going to withdraw, or is the match going to be replayed from where it was halted, or even be replayed altogether? although even if they replayed the match, NK probably wouldn't have much chance anyway, since Iran had already racked up the goals in the first leg.
Not that there never was acting involved in the glorious game of soccer, but personally if someone threw me a firecracker and I was covered in smoke, I'd be pissed at the host country and leave the game. I've seen this kind of thing happen sometimes, but never to this point of malevolence, or an entire lack of thought. Sad thing is, I doubt it was a teenager or some ignorant kid who threw it.
It never hit his eyes. The Korean articles I've read so far(which credited its source on the Iranian hospital) said that it hit "around his eye." Not directly, but near the eye. According to the Iranian doctors, the player kept saying he went "blind." And that's the part which the doctors thought he was "faking." Either way, it hit his head. Either way, it hit him. I heard that from some of my Iranian friends. Again, I noted that I "heard" from others. So I don't know if it's true or not. I've heard about similar things in pfdc too but I'm not sure if they're 100% right.
"Tehran police announced on Thursday that 20 hooligans were arrested shortly after the match between Iran and North Korea in Azadi Stadium." http://www.asian-football.com/mrel/news_55889_E.html At least someone is going to be held responsible for what happened. A meeting we be held on Dec 7th to discuss what should be done about the game. North Korea could also face fines/sanctions because they walked off the field. http://www.irankicks.com/cgi-bin/iknews/viewnews.cgi?newsid1069108278,8533,
North Korea should forfeit the match for leaving without permission. Iran should play their next three home fixtures in empty stadiums.
That's probably the best choice. North Korea shouldn't have left the field if the ref said not to. The Iranian federation should be punished for failing to maintain security, and their fans for their behavior. Although, I think the ref who said that the game should go on should also be put under review. Player safety should come first, and it was probably imprudent to make them play under such an uncivilized atmosphere.
hey chachi guy, "uncivilized"??? Firecrackers have been around the globe forever, this was wrong to be thrown towards the players but chachi, you are going far with that comment.
he probably didnt mean as such a serious word. he clearly didnt mean that iranians were uncivilized, but that the "atmosphere" was chaotic, and the person who threw the firecracker at a person was uncivilized. Fire crackers are enjoyed immensely in east asia too. actually when i used to skateboard, couple of the older people who get a rocket fire cracker and fire it at the rookies. The funny thing is, those rocket fire crackers seemed like they were homing missiles. no one will ever get hurt with firecracker unless it hits their eye or something.