Star Iranian footballer Karimi returns to practice

Iranian star footballer Ali Karimi, often dubbed the Maradona of Asia and sacked by his club for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, will return to practice on Wednesday, a report said.

Iran’s ILNA news agency said Karimi had agreed to pay the fine of around 40,000 dollars levied by his club, Steel Azin FC.

Karimi would attend a training session scheduled later in the day, the agency said.

“I respect the ruling of the club’s disciplinary committee,” ILNA quoted Karimi as saying.

The committee found Karimi guilty of disrespecting Iran’s football federation and the club’s supervisor as well as not fasting during a training session on August 12, the club said on its website late Tuesday.

He was sacked earlier this month for criticising Steel Azin FC’s managing director and former commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mostafa Ajorlou.

Speaking to state television, Steel Azin president Hossein Hedayati welcomed the move to reinstate Karimi as he hailed him as a “national treasure.”

Karimi, 31, had earlier denied any wrongdoing and insisted he has always heeded religious values, especially during Ramadan when devout Muslims abstain from all food and drink from dawn to dusk.

The Iranian national team’s second most capped player and third-highest scorer, Karimi had a two-year stint in the Bundesliga, scoring four goals in 50 appearances for Bayern Munich.

Ramadan started in Iran on August 12 and under Iranian laws all Muslims are required to observe the holy month, while those who do not fast, including non-Muslims, are expected to abstain from eating or drinking in public.

Muslims observe Ramadan by abstaining from food, drink, cigarettes and sex during daylight hours. Pregnant and menstruating women, the sick, travellers and pre-pubescent children are exempt from the fast.