Iran’s female football supporters have made history in Tehran – for the first time in 37 years they were able to attend a sporting event in the city’s Azadi stadium.
The usually strict ban on women attending sports stadiums was relaxed for a screening of Iran’s World Cup match against Spain, which was taking place in Kazan in Russia.
It had been hoped the ban would be lifted for Iran’s opening match of the tournament, but it was only for the team’s second game, which they lost 1-0, that women were able to access the ground.
OpenStadiums, a group campaigning for more access to sporting events for women in Iran, reported on the day of the match: “Last night after some confirmations, fans could buy tickets to watch on the screen in the Azadi stadium. Female fans are pretty excited to pass the Azadi’s gates for first time – but some are saying we can’t believe it until we enter in stadium.”
The event did not run completely smoothly – initially police were reluctant to let it go ahead and people were turned away, but the BBC Persian reporter Hadi Nili said an intervention by the interior minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, confirmed it could go ahead, leading to joyous scenes of celebration within the ground. [The Guardian] Read more
