The Iranian government has barred the duo of Masoud Shojaei and Ehsau Haji from national team duty for life after they played against an Israeli club in the Europa League.

Iran captain, Shojaei and midfielder Ehsan Haji who both play for Greek club, Panionios, played 90 minutes in the team’s home leg of the third round qualifier against Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv last week after boycotting the first leg in Israel.

Their involvement in the match played last week violated Iran’s longstanding prohibition of athletes facing opponents from Israel, a nation that is not recognised by Iran’s government.

Although the nation’s football federation has strongly condemned the action of the players, it  said it was reviewing the case and would take a final decision on the matter after speaking with the affected players.

Iran’s parliament has since denounced the players even as the country’s Deputy Minister of Sports, Mohammed Reza Davarzani was quoted as saying that it was “certain that Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi will never be invited to join the national football team because they violated the red line.”

Iran, whose national team has already booked its place in the 2018 World Cup to be hosted by Russia, could face sanctions from the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) which forbids political interference in international football.

Interestingly, after the match, the Israeli Foreign Ministry praised the two players on its official Farsi language Twitter handle for ignoring Iran’s rule to play against the Israeli team which eventually progressed to the next round of the competition after beating Panionios 1-0.