FNA - Head of the Legal Committee and Regulations of Iran's Football Federation Houshang Nasirzadeh said the country will soon file a complaint against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for using a fake name for Persian Gulf in the title of its soccer league.


In a political move banned by both FIFA and AFC rules, the UAE misnamed the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf as the new title of its soccer league, Nasirzadeh said.

The UN sent a circular to all 186 countries of the world in 1995, stressing that they must use the term "Persian Gulf" when referring to the waterway, Nasirzadeh added.

All countries must comply with the circular, said Nasirzadeh, adding that using other names except for the Persian Gulf runs counter to the UN circular and is a clear violation of the FIFA's statute, the Iranian students news agency reported.

"Iran's Football Federation will object to the fake naming in the next two days. It will send a letter to the FIFA ethics committee. It regards the UAE's behavior as politically-tainted and racist," he added.

Historically and internationally known as "Persian Gulf", the body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. The "Persian Gulf" is 989 kilometers long with Iran covering most of the Northern coast. It is about 56 kilometers wide at its narrowest in the Strait of Hormuz. The International Hydrographic Organization also refers to it as the "Persian Gulf".

To study the historical roots of the "Persian Gulf", Iran has held several international scientific conferences in which researchers from the most reputable academic centers worldwide unanimously agreed that the body of water has been referred to as the Persian Gulf throughout history.

However, some regional and hostile western countries continue to distort historical facts by misnaming the "Persian Gulf", in an organized attempt to steal the true identity of the Persian Gulf, but to no avail.
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