Hundreds of Iranian women watched a local professional football match in Tehran for the first time in more than 40 years after a ban on women from attending sports stadiums.
Five hundred women were granted access to Tehran’s Azadi stadium to watch a championship match between Tehran’s Esteghlal FC and Kerman city’s visiting team Sanat Mes Kerman FC, the semi-official state news agency Fars said on Thursday. thursday (25th).
The women were separated from the men in the stadium and entered through a special place via a parking lot, according to the website of the Iranian Football Federation.
Iran’s ban on women from attending sports stadiums is not written into law, but was implemented shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
While Thursday was the first time in more than 40 years that Iranian female fans were allowed to watch a local game, women were able to watch a small number of domestic matches.
This year, the Iranian women were able to share a landmark moment when Iran secured qualification for the November World Cup in Qatar.
Three years before that, thousands of women were allowed to participate in a World Cup Qualifiers match between Iran and Cambodia in 2019, after pressure from human rights groups and FIFA.
That year, FIFA was under increasing pressure to force Iran to lift its ban on women entering sports stadiums, in particular after the death of Sahar Khodayari, a supporter who set herself on fire after she was denied access to a football stadium. football in Tehran.
Nicknamed the “Blue Girl” on social media because of the colors of her favorite Iranian football team, Esteghlal, Khodayari was accused of “openly committing a sinful act” for “appearing in public without a hijab” when she tried to enter a stadium “dressed as a man” in March 2019, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
On Thursday, the women were heard singing “Blue Girl” – a tribute to Khodayari years after his death.
Source: CNN Brasil
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