NOCIRI President Reza Salehi Amiri visited a men's national golf team training camp to offer his support prior to the 2022 World Amateur Team Championships ©OCA

National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran (NOCIRI) President Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri has called for more women to play golf and for a greater number of courses to be built across the country.

Salehi Amiri made the declaration when he visited a training camp for the men’s national golf side, where they are preparing for the 2022 World Amateur Team Championships in Paris, due to be held between August 24 and September 3.

The NOCIRI leader arrived at the camp to offer his support to the players, but quickly turned attention to the women's game and developing more golf courses.

"We need more women participating and we intend to support the development of women in golf with an equal or even more [larger] budget," Salehi Amiri said.

"Also a country of 80 million people should have at least seven to eight golf courses and we will take positive steps for golf in the future."

Reza Salehi Amiri has suggested Iran needs to build more golf courses to develop the sport further ©Getty Images
Reza Salehi Amiri has suggested Iran needs to build more golf courses to develop the sport further ©Getty Images

He added: "There is a misconception that golf is an elite sport and it is a luxury.

"This has probably limited participation.

"But the lack of physical contact and no age limit broadens the scope.

"Of course, our duty as a NOC is mainly related to technical issues and international events, but we will enter in terms of hardware in the case of golf."

Golf returned to the Olympic programme at Rio 2016 and was also played at Tokyo 2020, but no Iranians qualified.

Golf is on the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 programmes.

Women's rights are severely restricted in Iran and the country's only female Olympic medallist, Kimia Alizadeh, fled and competed for the Refugee Olympic Team in at Tokyo 2020.