NPR’s Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks with former Iranian soccer coach Katayoun Khosrowyar about Sahar Khodayari, a young woman who died after trying to watch a stadium soccer game in Iran.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Women in Iran are prohibited from attending men’s soccer games in the national stadium. To get around that, some women dress up as men to go. They risk arrest and worse. Last week, Sahar Khodayari was sentenced to six months in prison for attending a men’s game. At the court, she then set herself on fire in protest and she died. Her death has now sparked worldwide outrage, with calls on FIFA, the sport’s governing body, to intervene. Activists have used the hashtag #bluegirl on Twitter, the color of Khodayari’s favorite Iranian team. That includes Kat Khosrowyar, former coach to Iran’s national under-19 women’s team. She’s now head coach at Seattle’s Reign Academy and she joins us now on the line. Thank you so much.

KATAYOUN KHOSROWYAR: Thank you, Lulu. It’s an honor to be here today.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Why do you think this prompted such a huge outcry and response?

KHOSROWYAR: This has never happened before. I mean, I’ve lived in Iran since 2005. It’s only been a few months that I’ve moved back to the U.S. And, you know, growing up there, there was no women’s soccer. So I helped, you know, pick up and create that platform for women. For me, this is like something that is, you know, completely outrageous – to hear that something so bad has happened to, you know, a fan – a woman who was a huge soccer fan. You know, because I was there for 15 years, and I’ve seen how soccer is ingrained in our DNA. So this has been a really unfortunate event and it’s very difficult to cope with.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Kat, Iran isn’t a hyper-segregated society. Men and women work together. They socialize and mix in public life. So why do authorities separate men and women in stadiums?

KHOSROWYAR: This is a very good question. It’s a very, very tricky question, as well, because I still don’t know the answers to that. And I don’t know the answer because of this specific stadium – Azadi Stadium is in the capital of Tehran. It holds 100,000 people. It has a lot of security. And I think what is going through, you know, their head is that they don’t know how to, you know, protect the women that go in there with, you know, 100,000 men all over the place. But if you go to, like, the other big cities of Iran, if you go, like, with other sports, there is no problem with it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has previously urged Iranian authorities to take “concrete steps” for women to attend games. Are authorities likely to respond to pressure from FIFA?

KHOSROWYAR: The authorities are responding. I think the government does want this to happen, it just takes time. There has been a lot of talk for the past few years, they just want to test it. For example, last year, with my national team, we were able to go twice, which was very historic. So we only thought that that was going to continue. But the government needs to facilitate opening the stadium for women and, you know, FIFA has demanded it. I do, you know, hope the situation gets resolved quickly for women to come watch their favorite team play and support them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You’ve seen the hashtag #bluegirl trending on Twitter. You asked in a tweet what sports fans could do to support female soccer fans in Iran. Do you think fans can actually change things?

KHOSROWYAR: Fans are the change-makers in the country. You know, soccer is the national sport. I think that this has to somehow evolve into getting more women involved and men have to, you know, support this cause because we do need, you know, their help. We do need the fact that they’ve been, you know, working in soccer for a much longer time than we have to get involved in helping us progress. So I think men need to either come together to, like, help us or, you know, it’s just going to continue the way it is. And men have a huge role – bigger role than us to help facilitate what what happens next.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That’s Kat Khosrowyar, head coach at Seattle’s Reign Academy. Thank you so much.

KHOSROWYAR: Thank you, Lulu, for having me.

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Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown has been accused of rape in a federal lawsuit in Florida.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown has been accused of rape in a federal lawsuit in Florida. From member station WGBH in Boston, Esteban Bustillos has more.

ESTEBAN BUSTILLOS, BYLINE: Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is known for his short, to-the-point answers when it comes to dealing with the press. Earlier today, the coach held his first media availability since the story broke last night. Star receiver Antonio Brown, who the team acquired earlier this week, is being accused of raping his former trainer in a civil lawsuit. Belichick answers were even more terse than usual.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Bill, were you aware of the lawsuit when you signed Antonio Brown?

BILL BELICHICK: I’m not going to be expanding on the statements that have already been given.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Don’t you think the fans deserve to hear a little more from on…

BELICHICK: When we know more, we’ll say more.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: …Such a major development that, you know, could impact the team?

BELICHICK: Yeah, I just said that.

BUSTILLOS: The whole thing lasted less than four minutes. It’s the latest troubling incident for a team that prides itself on toning down on distractions and doing your job. Last month, safety Patrick Chung was indicted on charges of cocaine possession in New Hampshire. And earlier this year, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with soliciting prostitution in South Florida.

The details in this case, which is civil and not criminal, are disturbing. Brown’s former trainer, Britney Taylor, claims he sexually assaulted her twice in 2017 and raped her last year. The two first met as college students at Central Michigan University. Brown hasn’t spoken yet, but earlier today on ESPN, Brown’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, came to his client’s defense.

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DREW ROSENHAUS: These allegations are false. He denies every one of them.

BUSTILLOS: What happens now is murky. In a statement, the Patriots said the league is investigating the allegations. And the Washington Post reports that the NFL is considering placing Brown on the commissioner’s exempt list, which would essentially put him on paid leave. A spokesperson for the NFL Players Association wouldn’t comment on the case but said that a player can challenge that designation. Brown did practice with the team for the first time today, but Bill Belichick was mum with reporters on if he’ll suit up for the next game.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Are you preparing for him to play on Sunday?

BELICHICK: We’re taking it one day at a time.

BUSTILLOS: The Patriots will head to Miami for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.

For NPR News, I’m Esteban Bustillos in Boston.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

NPR’s Ailsa Chang talks with Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated about the amazing play seen at the U.S. Open this year.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

It took nearly five exhausting hours, but Rafael Nadal pulled off his fourth U.S. Open title last night in New York. He outlasted Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in five sets for his 19th Grand Slam title. Joining me on Skype now to talk about last night’s entertaining end to an entertaining tournament is Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated. Hey there.

JON WERTHEIM: Hi, Ailsa.

CHANG: OK, so Nadal’s latest Grand Slam title puts him – what? – just one behind his rival Roger Federer for most Grand Slam titles ever. But just looking at last night, how great of a feat was it for him to go five sets against a player 10 years younger than him?

WERTHEIM: This was a tremendous feat, especially given the rhythms of this match, where Nadal won the first two sets. It looked like he was cruising and we would all make it to our dinner appointments, and then all of a sudden, this Russian, who – you’re right – was 10 year Nadal’s junior, was absolutely persistent and didn’t miss. And suddenly, here we are in a fifth set, and the crowd is engaged. And what Nadal had to do and what he had to overcome to end up winning this match made this sort of an unexpectedly complicated day at the office but, I think, really one of his great career triumphs.

CHANG: But maybe one of the most exciting things that happened last night was the guy on the other side of that match, the rise of Medvedev, right? He started out as this guy that everyone hated during this tournament for being rude and obnoxious. Like, he flipped off an official. People were booing him. But then last night, he played phenomenal tennis. Can you just tell us how he turned things around?

WERTHEIM: It was one of the great comebacks but also one of the great character comebacks. You’re right. Everyone sort of expected to come and witness a public execution and good would triumph over evil and Nadal would beat this guy. And by the end, Medvedev had the crowd behind him. He got a standing ovation when it was over. And the other thing – this is really an emergence of a young, talented, ascending player. I mean, he had a terrific summer. He came to the U.S. Open. He won six matches. This guy who, 10 days ago, was the great pro-wrestling heel, the villain of the tournament, was really given a warm sendoff. It was quite an image recovery.

CHANG: All right, so now let’s go to the women’s side. There was another emerging star, Bianca Andreescu. She became Canada’s first Grand Slam title winner ever. How surprised should people be that she beat Serena Williams in straight sets?

WERTHEIM: I think to some extent, we take our cue from the player, and she, from the start of the tournament, basically said, I’m here to win. This time last year, she wasn’t anywhere close to the tennis radar. She was outside the top 100, and she’s had a terrific 2019. And here she comes, 19 years old with a very well-developed game, and stared down the mighty Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final. And we have a new start in women’s tennis.

CHANG: OK, so now that the 2019 season is over, what are you most looking forward to in 2020?

WERTHEIM: A lot. I mean, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic – the big three, we call them – they have won the last 12 majors. Nobody has sort of cracked this glass ceiling. Is 2020 the year it finally happens? And then between the emergence of young stars and this sort of big question of whether Serena Williams can finally complete this question and win her 24th major, we have 19-year-olds that are thrilling us, and we also will have a 38-year-old Serena Williams bidding for history. So, you know, overall, I would say tennis emerges from this 2019 U.S. Open in a very nice place.

CHANG: That’s Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated. Thanks so much for joining us today.

WERTHEIM: Anytime. Pleasure.

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

As research into head injuries expands to include women’s soccer, some of the sport’s former stars are calling attention to the health fallout from heading the ball multiple times.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

With a new NFL season starting tonight, concerns about head injuries in football are expected to ramp up again, and now the discussion is expanding to women’s soccer. After the Women’s World Cup, researchers are preparing to study how a lifetime of head impacts could affect women, including heading the ball. NPR’s Tom Goldman reports.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Using the head to redirect a soccer ball or to score a goal – that’s an integral part of the game, especially as players become more skilled. But in an era of increased concussion awareness, heading is fraught with potential risk, and the science exploring that risk hasn’t been inclusive.

ROBERT STERN: We really have needed to expand this research to include women.

GOLDMAN: Dr. Robert Stern studies chronic traumatic encephalopathy – that’s the degenerative brain disease known as CTE. He and others at Boston University have focused a lot of their attention on CTEs linked to head trauma in men who play tackle football. But next month he’ll start working with former female soccer players, some well-known, on a study called SHINE – it stands for soccer head impacts and neurological effects.

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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: The shot saved, rebound – score. Michelle Akers’ first goal. And the U.S. goes on top, 1-0.

GOLDMAN: Former national team star Michelle Akers, now 53, was the catalyst for Stern’s study. She’s concerned about her peers and wonders whether certain mental lapses are early signs of soccer-induced brain problems, including CTE. Akers and former U.S. teammate Brandi Chastain spoke on CBS about their involvement in the study. Akers said she now regrets what she estimates to be at least 50 headers per game during her career.

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MICHELLE AKERS: I would not be heading a million balls like that. There is no way on earth I would do that again.

GOLDMAN: Robert Stern says prior research shows a relationship between the amount of heading and cognitive and even chemical changes in the brain, enough so that, in 2015, the U.S. Soccer Federation banned heading for kids 10 and younger.

DAN PINGREY: So how do we head the ball? We look with what?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Our eyes.

PINGREY: OK?

GOLDMAN: Youth coach Dan Pingrey has led his Seattle United club team through its first year of heading. By the time they start playing games this fall, most of the girls will be 11, meaning no more ban. At a practice on the University of Washington campus, Pingree runs a refresher drill.

PINGREY: Upper body straight. Don’t bend your head. Nice and easy. Right to the forehead. Good. Don’t bend over, Ella. Don’t bend over, Ella.

GOLDMAN: What Pingrey doesn’t want to see is heads wobbling. Neurologists say girls can be more prone to concussion because they sometimes have weaker neck muscles that cause the head to flop and the brain to shake. Pingrey also trains his kids to keep their elbows out, creating a protective buffer to help prevent smacking skulls when someone else is flying in to head the same ball.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Up.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: Ella.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: I got this.

GOLDMAN: Shahram Salemy daughter Hannah plays on the Seattle United team. He says the new study isn’t creating extra concern among parents. He hasn’t sensed the kind of concussion hysteria that’s gripped some parents of young boys playing football.

SHAHRAM SALEMY: I will say that I know parents who have kids that are older – they’re teenagers – and what I hear from them is more of a concern about ACL injuries and knee injuries more than head injuries. We just don’t see a whole lot of that at – maybe it’s just the age of the kids.

GOLDMAN: In 2017, research by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons found high school soccer-playing girls did have a significantly higher rate of concussions, even more than boys who play football. The study points to headers as part of the problem. That’s where Dr. Stern now is turning his attention, with an open mind.

STERN: I’m one of the people who does the bulk of this research, and I’m not really sure exactly what leads to CTE and how it’s manifest and what the risk factors are.

GOLDMAN: But, Stern stresses, repetitive head impacts of any kind, even ones that don’t cause concussions, are not good. And he hopes the 20 women signed up for his soccer study will help science inch closer to understanding the risks of playing the games we love.

Tom Goldman, NPR News.

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Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

The National Football League’s regular season kicks off Thursday. Sports commentator Mike Pesca offers his take on NFL monetary incentives.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The NFL season begins tomorrow without some of the top players in the game. Some players are contract holdouts; one made a high-profile retirement. Commentator Mike Pesca says, many players face a question. How much money makes it worth the injuries and pain?

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: When Andrew Luck, the NFL’s most accomplished quarterback under age 30, decided to become an ex-NFL quarterback 10 days ago, he explained that his frustration and pain were adding up to true despair, essentially asking us to consider his humanity. And we should. But we should weigh the humanity against the monetary because that’s the calculation that NFL players have to constantly perform. Andrew Luck’s contracts have paid him close to $100 million up to this point. There’s no way to know how much he kept. But after taxes, expenses and agents fees, it’s safe to say that Luck has tens of millions of dollars to his name.

Now, I ask you, if I put $20 million to $40 million in your bank account and told you you could earn an extra hundred million dollars over the next few years, but you’d have to break a bone a year or maybe lacerate a kidney or spleen every third year, would you do it? The money matters, of course it does, but it also incentivizes decisions in ways fans might not appreciate. The NFL is a pay-for-pain enterprise.

Let’s take the case of Melvin Gordon, running back for the Los Angeles Chargers. Like Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, Gordon is a great talent who refuses to play for the amount his contract calls for. You should know that their contracts call for these running backs to be paid in the mid-seven figures this year, which seems like a lot of money – and it is except when you realize that other running backs, who might not even be as good as them, are being paid in the low eight figures. All sports have rookie contracts before a period of free agency that players have to suffer through. But in football, the suffering isn’t figurative.

Last year, Elliott ran or received the ball 381 times. A few of those possessions ended with him touching a foot out of bounds or, perhaps, scampering into the end zone untouched. But in the vast majority of occasions – literally hundreds of times – Elliott’s labor ended as he was knocked to the ground by a 200-to-300-pound man – not fun. I’d try to get every dollar I could in exchange for that inconvenience. If someone told me, 250 times this year, I’d be tackled by a 300-pound professional athlete and that, in exchange, I would get $3 million to $5 million, I would probably take it. But if you also told me that if I refused to participate in 50 to 100 more pre-season tackles by the 300-pound man and that by doing so I might be able to get $13 million, I would be really interested in the part where I didn’t have to get tackled for free.

We’re not talking about practice basketball drills or batting practice. We’re talking about pay for pain. Fans want their players to play. In fact, if every Chargers fan and owner of Melvin Gordon in fantasy football were allowed to contribute a dollar to a hypothetical GoFundMe, we could solve his contract holdout tomorrow. And fans generally know intellectually about the costs of the game and accept it. But knowing the costs and feeling them – really feeling them – is what makes football an entertainment to its viewers but, too often, an affliction to its practitioners.

INSKEEP: Commentator Mike Pesca is the author of “Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs In Sports History.” And it looks like the Dallas Cowboys had been listening to Mike Pesca because – this just in – the team has announced it has agreed to terms with running back Ezekiel Elliott.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAPPER BIG POOH’S “TOO REAL [INSTRUMENTAL]”)

Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.