L’Iran again refused women entry to a stadium football to attend the match between the national teams of their country and Lebanon, Iranian media reported on Wednesday. The match, won by the Iranian selection 2-0, took place Tuesday evening at the Imam Reza stadium in the city of Mashhad, in the northeast of the country. “About 2,000 Iranian women, who had bought tickets for the Iran-Lebanon match, were present in the perimeter of the Imam Reza stadium, but could not enter the stadium,” the ISNA news agency said.
“For this match, 12,500 tickets were sold, including 2,000 for women,” added the news agency. “I apologize that many people were unable to enter the stadium and watch the match football match between the national teams of Iran and Lebanon Mohsen Davari, governor of Mashhad, told Iranian state television IRIB. “Unfortunately, it was not possible for a large number of people outside to enter the stadium,” he added.
Forty years of exclusion
Faced with the outcry over this incident, Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi ordered Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi to follow up on the matter. “Team Melli” captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh said on Tuesday, according to the IRIB: “I don’t think anything would have happened if women had come to the stadium, and it can instead promote our culture.”
For his part, Iranian Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri ruled on Wednesday on the radio that “if the conditions allowed the sale of tickets to women, a suitable place had to be found for them”. The women Iranian women were allowed to attend a national team soccer match in January for the first time in nearly three years during the World Cup qualifiers between Iran and Iraq.
For 40 years, the Islamic republic has generally prohibited female spectators from attending football matches. The clerics, who play a major role in decision-making, argue that women should be protected from the masculine atmosphere and from the sight of men in sportswear, and whose bodies are therefore partially visible.
Fifa wants explanations
The Fifawhich had ordered Iran in September 2019 to allow women’s access to stadiums without restriction, expressed its “concern” about the Mashhad incident, and “calls on the Iranian Football Federation more information about it”.
The world body’s 2019 directive threatening Iran with suspension came after a fan died after setting herself on fire for fear of being jailed for trying to attend a game . In 2018, she was arrested when she tried to enter a stadium dressed as a boy. His death sparked an outcry and many called for Iran to be banned from competition.
“Fifa’s position on the presence of women at football matches in Iran is clear: historic progress has been made – as illustrated by the milestone of October 2019, when women were allowed to enter the stadium for the first time in 40 years,” the organization continued. “Fifa intends to see them continue, because there can be no turning back,” added the body.
