- Iranian football chief announced that women will be allowed to attend premier league games.
- This is a significant triumph for women over the long-standing prohibition.
- The announcement was made by Mehdi Taj, the head of the Iranian Football Federation.
The Iranian football chief announced that this year will witness a return of female spectators to the stadiums for the premier league games, marking a significant triumph for women over the long-standing prohibition on attending football games.
Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, the government has largely forbade women from entering stadiums for football and other sporting events, despite the fact that there is no law that forbids it.
Mehdi Taj, the head of the Iranian Football Federation, stated that one of the league’s standout aspects this year would be the entrance of women into stadiums.
The announcement was made at the drawing ceremony for Iran’s top-tier football season, which will feature 16 clubs and begin next month.
Iranian clerics, who have significant influence over national policy, have stated that women should be protected from the aura of masculinity and the sight of male athletes in shorts.
Taj nevertheless stated on Sunday that several stadiums in the towns of Isfahan, Kerman, and Ahvaz, but not Tehran, were “ready” to accommodate women.
Women were finally allowed to watch football matches in August, when Mes Kerman and Tehran team Esteghlal faced off.
Another instance was the match between Iran and Cambodia in the World Cup 2022 qualifier that took place at Tehran Azadi Stadium in 2019. About 4000 women were permitted to attend.
Iran has come under intense pressure to permit women to watch games since the death of Sahar Khodayari, a football supporter who set herself on fire in 2019 out of concern that she would be arrested for trying to attend a game dressed as a man.
After four long years of battle, Khodayari became the movement’s emblem, and it’s possible that Iranian women may eventually start watching football matches in stadiums.
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