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It has been allegedly revealed that eight of Iran's women's football team are men who are awaiting sex swap operations.
Read: Sports Ministry set to start allowing women into stadiums to watch men's game
According to The Sun, officials have now reportedly ordered the gender testing of the entire national team and the top players in their country's competitive league.
"Eight players have been playing with Iran’s female team without completing sex change operations,' , an official close to the Iranian football league,' according to Iranian media.
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Mr Sharifi did not name the eight players at the centre of the current controversy.
Read: Iranian women expose their hair to inspire change [Video]
This is not the first time the team has been involved in a gender scandal.
Just last year, four players were found to be men and in 2010 questions were asked about the national team's goalkeeper.
This resulted in the sports Iranian governing body introducing mandatory gender-testing in 2014.
It is not known how many of the current team were born males, The Sun reported.
Those who cannot prove their gender are barred from competing in the women's competition, but they can be re-admitted after completing gender reassignment.
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‘If these people can solve their problems through surgery and be in a position to receive the necessary medical qualifications, they will then be able to participate in [women's] football,’Ahmad Hashemian, head of the Iranian football federation’s medical committee, said last year
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