It’s safe to say that most people were initially shocked when Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi filed a $1 billion civil lawsuit against FIFA in Boston federal court on June 30. One billion dollars. due to an offside call. In a group stage match. And yet, sitting with the details for a moment, the story becomes harder to dismiss quite so easily.
Afrasiabi, a 68-year-old political scientist from Massachusetts with a convoluted past, is going after FIFA, its president Gianni Infantino, and an unidentified group of association officials. The complaint centres on what happened in the dying minutes of Iran’s June 26 match against Egypt, when a stoppage-time goal from centre-back Shoja Khalilzadeh was ruled offside by the Video Assistant Referee. The decision ended the match at 1-1, sent Egypt through to the knockout stage for the first time in the country’s history, and sent Iran home.
The lawsuit claims that the VAR ruling was intentionally incorrect rather than merely incorrect. Afrasiabi’s complaint refers to what the filing describes as an Egyptian defender positioned behind the Iranian players at the crucial moment as “clear and incontrovertible” proof of an incorrect call. He even cites Zlatan Ibrahimović’s Fox Sports commentary, in which he called the match a “theft” and said FIFA should apologize to Iran. Admittedly, this is the first time Zlatan has been used as a legal citation.
Reading the complaint gives the impression that Afrasiabi is aiming for something far bigger than a single football game. He’s seeking class-action status on behalf of what the filing estimates to be up to 91 million Iranian nationals and Iranian-Americans — people who, the suit claims, were “emotionally scarred” by the decision. He told The Independent that he thinks $1 billion is a “generous” offer, though it might be a bit low. Legal observers will undoubtedly enjoy analyzing whether a federal court views emotional distress resulting from a VAR ruling as actionable damages.
It’s worth noting who Afrasiabi is. Prior to his pardon in a 2023 prisoner exchange between the United States and Tehran, he was accused by U.S. federal prosecutors of acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government. During the Obama administration, he also advised Iran’s nuclear negotiating team. By all accounts, his appearance in a Boston courtroom suing the football governing body is a unique chapter in an already unique life.
Even before the final whistle against Egypt, the atmosphere surrounding Iran’s World Cup campaign was extremely tense. Due to complicated travel restrictions and visa issues in the United States, the team played their home games from Tijuana, Mexico. Iran’s players thanked Mexico for its hospitality in handwritten farewell notes, but they also subtly questioned whether the tournament’s rules applied to every team. Their farewell statement, which was signed simply “Iranian National Team,” was succinct but clearly direct.
FIFA now has sixty days to be formally served, after which the organization is anticipated to file for termination. That appears to be the likely result. The legal standard for demonstrating intentional discrimination in a VAR call is extremely high, and international sports organizations have historically proven challenging to sue in U.S. courts. However, it’s possible that the case creates enough noise to at least compel a discussion about video review system transparency, which the sport has actually had trouble explaining to fans since VAR was implemented.
What’s harder to quantify is the frustration the lawsuit is riding on. Major tournaments have seen a number of puzzling rulings due to the offside rule as it is currently implemented with precision tracking technology. millimeters. lines under the arms. frames that are frozen. The anger behind Afrasiabi’s lawsuit is genuine and belongs to many more than 91 million people, regardless of its legal viability.
