Iranian women fans have been allowed to attend a men’s soccer World Cup qualifying match that will take place in Tehran on October 10.
While foreign women have been allowed limited access to matches in Iran, Iranian women have been banned from stadiums when men’s teams are playing since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
But in the last few weeks, FIFA threatened Iran with suspension from international games if it did not allow women to freely enter stadiums
FIFA wrote to the Iranian Football Federation in June asking it to provide a timeline toward women being able to buy tickets for the qualifiers, or face consequences.
“Women can go to Tehran’s Azadi stadium to watch the match between Iran’s national team and Cambodia in October for the Qatar World Cup qualifier,” IRNA quoted Deputy Sports Minister Jamshid Taghizadeh as saying.
The death of a young woman who committed suicide after being threatened with a jail term turned into an international story, which prompted FIFA to increase its pressure on Iran.
Sahar Khodayari, a female football fan tried to enter Tehran’s Azadi Stadium to watch a match when she was arrested. She was released later but in early September she was told of an impending jail term. She set herself on fire and died a few days later in the hospital, creating international outrage.
On October 3, women went online to buy tickets for the October 10 game between Iran’s national team and Cambodia. Around 3,500 seats in four separate sections were reportedly blocked for women to buy and tickets were quickly sold out.
The official IRNA news agency says it is not clear if more tickets will be offered to women, since only 4,000 men have so far purchased tickets.
On Persian social media, the hashtag “Come with Me to the Stadium” began trending. The state-run outlet ISNA stated: “Given the reception by women, more seats must be made available for women.”
FIFA will be sending a delegation to observe if women will be allowed to enter the Azadi Stadium. According to some media reports, Youri Djorkaeff, FIFA’s executive officer, will be leading a FIFA delegation to Tehran to oversee the Cambodia game and the attendance of women at the match.
There are no official laws banning women from attending men’s games, but the country’s security forces and courts controlled by conservative clerics and their supporters have in practice prohibited women to enter stadiums.
