Eight of Iran's women's football team are actually men awaiting sex change operations, it has been claimed.

The country's football association was accused of being "unethical" for knowingly fielding eight men in its women's team.

In the spotlight: Iran Women's National Football team.

Mojtabi Sharifi, an official close to the Iranian league, told 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. The names of the players thought to be male were not revealed.