Hamid Alidoosti, the first Iranian footballer to play professionally in Germany, has died aged 70. He passed away in a hospital in Tehran on November 1, according to the account of his death in the original report. Alidoosti had been battling cancer for some time.
Alidoosti made his German professional debut on August 23, 1986, when he came on as a substitute for FSV Salmrohr against Stuttgarter Kickers in the second division. The club lost 2–1. He went on to make 30 league appearances for Salmrohr, scoring 10 goals. Before moving to Germany, he had scored 17 times in 28 appearances for Iran’s national team.
The striker joined the village club after being spotted playing for an amateur side in the Hunsrück region. He moved to Salmrohr with his wife and young daughter, Taraneh, and the family lived in a room above the club’s restaurant. Former club president Peter Rauen recalled that local residents warmly greeted the family as they walked through the village.
Taraneh Alidoosti later became one of Iran’s best-known actors, appearing in films by director Asghar Farhadi, including “About Elly” and “The Salesman.” She declined to attend the 2017 Academy Awards ceremony after “The Salesman” won the Oscar for best foreign-language film, protesting Donald Trump’s policies toward immigrants.
In 2022, after Mahsa Jina Amini died in the custody of Iran’s morality police, Taraneh Alidoosti became a prominent supporter of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. She was arrested and held for three weeks in Evin Prison. Her father waited outside the prison with friends and colleagues; after her release, the two embraced.
Alidoosti once described his daughter as “the most beautiful movement in the symphony of my life,” according to a film about his career. He said he was proud of her because she was “a real person.” Images of Taraneh Alidoosti mourning her father at Tehran’s Amjadieh Stadium, without a hijab, have since circulated widely online.
Sources: FAZ.