TEHRAN, Dec 12: Iran on Tuesday expressed dismay over a written Asian Games warning that star athletes like weightlifter Hossein Rezazadeh cannot adorn their kit with religious slogans, the ISNA agency reported.

The head of Iran's Olympic Committee, Ali Kafashian, put the warning from the Olympic Council of Asia down to “the particular religious thinking in the Arab countries”.

Part of the routine of Rezazadeh, double Olympic champion who won gold in the men's super-heavyweight competition, is to kiss the inscription of ‘Ya Abolfazl’, printed across his chest below a flag of Iran.

Abolfazl is a religious reference to the half-brother of Hussain, the Prophet Mohammed's grandson and third Imam of Shia Islam killed in the Battle of Karbala in the seventh century.

“Rezazadeh grew up with the name of Abolfazl and I do not believe in this rule,” Rezazadeh fumed.

The world record holder, now back in Iran, told ISNA that “if I was still in Doha I would not remove the slogan from my suit. It is illogical.”

The Iranian official said the team had received a similar warning after the gold-medal winning victory of its 21-year-old discus star Ehsan Hadadi, whose lycra body suit bears the slogan ‘Ya Hussain.’

“The printing or writing of religious slogans on the suits of athletes at international events has no restrictions,” said Kafashian.

“We have received the warning letter and now we have to implement it,” he added, without specifying what this would involve.

“Printing religious slogans on clothing is a spontaneous move by the athletes and the Iranian Olympic Committee has no role in it.”—AFP