A recent ruling by Iran’s football federation banning players from sporting “unusual” and “foreign” styles is sparking debate in Iran’s football community. The Federation also said professional players should refrain from curling their hair or wearing ponytails, and from sporting necklaces, earrings, or rings and that players should not wear tight clothes, grow strange-looking beards, or copy foreign styles.

The ruling has upset football players like Ali Mansourian who shaves all his hair off, while some of his fellow athletes on Iran’s Esteqlal team have grown their hair long. “In my opinion, the appearance of a player is his own business,” Mansourian says. “If you look at Islam, for example, the Prophet Mohammad’s hair was long. He was very handsome.”