Holding a football match in rice paddy fields – known locally as footshol or footchol – is a tradition in some parts of Iran to prepare for the new agricultural season. The contest is a chance for young people to blow off some steam in the paddy fields at the beginning of the planting season, and for villagers to enjoy an outdoor spectacle. This mud-spattered match took place between two teams of residents of Dark Qaleh village in Fars province, 230km southeast of Shiraz.
Photographs: Mahmoud Dehdari, ISNA News Agency
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