Tottenham Vs Man United Clash Censored 'Over 100 Times By Iranian TV Due To Assistant Referee'

Manchester United's 3-1 victory over Tottenham on Sunday was censored by Iran's state broadcaster due to Premier League assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis wearing shorts.

Fred, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood all scored in the second half as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men completed a superb comeback at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, the Islamic Republic of Iran's state broadcaster astonishingly cut away from the match over a whopping 100 times, according to stunning reports.

Online Iranian civil rights movement My Stealthy Freedom claims that the decision to cut away from the clash was to stop viewers from seeing Massey-Ellis' bare legs.

Iran's state-run TV channels are not permitted to allow women to have their hair uncovered or their bare knees to be shown.

According to My Stealthy Freedom, Iran's hardline authorities made a "mockery" over their decision to cut away from the action and insisted they "should not normalise this practice."

PA

PA

The Iran-focused campaigning movement wrote: "The television censors were rattled by the presence of a female referee in shorts.

"Their solution was to cut away from the action to views of London's backstreets, which made a mockery of the game.

"At the end of the game, one of the commentators joked that he hoped the viewers enjoyed the geographic show.

"Censorship is in the DNA of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We should not normalise this practice.

"This is not our culture. This is the ideology of a repressive regime."

Massey-Ellis has been a match official in the Premier League for over a decade and also recognised as a FIFA women's assistant referee since 2009.

PA

PA

The 35-year-old experienced English assistant referee also made history in 2019 when she became the first woman to officiate in a men's European fixture.

Massey-Ellis, who is widely hailed for her work in the Premier League, took up her assistant referee duties for PSV Eindhoven and LASK's Europa League clash.

Tottenham star Son Heung-min, who opened the scoring in the first half against United, was on the verge of tears in an emotional interview after Spurs' defeat.

The 28-year-old South Korean forward was also in the middle of controversy after VAR found he was 'fouled' by Scott McTominay during Cavani's disallowed opener.

The polarising VAR decision was costly for one punter, who missed out on a staggering £90,000 return from an accumulator.

Topics: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur, Football, Manchester United, Premier League, England

Adnan Riaz

Adnan Riaz is a journalist for SPORTbible. He studied for a B.A. in History at the University of York and followed it up with an M.A. in Multimedia Journalism at MMU. Before he started writing about sports, he spent over four years in the gaming press. He has worked for several publications, including Hardcore Gamer, LADbible and the Manchester Evening News. Follow him on Twitter to find out what he is working on next. Got a story tip for Adnan? Email him: [email protected]

@AdnanRiaz9