REVEALED: 8 players in the Iranian women football team are actually men

Shocking media reports have revealed 8 Iranian women in the country's national football team are actually men.

According to reports from the Telegraph, atleats 8 of these players are actually men awaiting sex change operations.

The Iranian women's team play in hijab headscarfs, long-sleeved tops and tracksuit bottoms giving them the perfect disguise.

Following the shocking discovery, the country's football association has been accused of being "unethical" for knowingly fielding eight men in its women's team.

An official close to the Iranian league, Mojtabi Sharifi, admitted to an Iranian news website: "(Eight players) have been playing with Iran's female team without completing sex change operations."

On Wednesday, authorities reportedly ordered gender testing of the entire national squad and leading league players. However, the names of the players thought to be male were not revealed.

It isn't the first time Iranian football will be grappling with gender issues. In 2010 there were doubts regarding the gender of the team's goalkeeper and in 2014 random checks was introduced after it turned out four national team players were men with various development challenges.

Gender change operations are legal in Iran according to a fatwa – or religious ruling – pronounced by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the former spiritual leader.

Football is highly popular among many Iranian women, despite religious rules that bar them from entering stadiums to watch matches between male teams.