BREAKING NEWS: A group of prominent Iranian sports personalities has petitioned FIFA to exclude the Iranian Football Federation from competing in the World Cup.

A law company has written to FIFA on behalf of a number of former and present Iranian sports officials, requesting that the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) be suspended and barred from competing in this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

“Iran’s violence and belligerence towards its own people has reached a tipping point, necessitating an unequivocal and forceful disassociation from the footballing and sports world,” according to a press statement accompanying the letter.

“Historically, FIFA’s absence from political quagmires has frequently been accepted only when those problems do not spread into the footballing realm. Football, which should be a safe haven for everybody, is not a haven for women or even men.

“Women have been routinely refused entrance to stadiums across the nation and systematically barred from the Iranian football environment, which runs counter to FIFA’s ideals and regulations.”

According to the letter, Iran’s football federation’s acts contradict FIFA statutes and rules.

CNN has reached out to FIFA and the FFIRI for comment.

Mahsa Amini, 22, died in September after being held by the country’s morality police for allegedly not properly wearing her hijab. Since then, Iranian authorities have unleashed a savage assault on protestors, who have banded together to voice a variety of concerns against the country’s dictatorial administration.

Former national team members Mehrdad Pooladi and Behshad Yavarzadeh, among others, sign the letter delivered by the Spanish legal firm Ruiz-Huerta & Crespo.

The World Cup runs from November 20 through December 18. On November 21, Iran will meet England in the first encounter of football’s premier tournament, followed by a match against Wales on November 25. On November 29, the country will also face the United States in its third and final group stage encounter.