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This is a first for three years: female supporters have been allowed to attend a football match in Tehran. However, they had to take a special entrance.
The Iranian supporters were back at the stadium on Thursday.
REUTERS
The Iranian supporters were back at the stadium on Thursday.
REUTERS
Women were allowed this Thursday, for the first time in three years, to attend a football match between the Iranian national team and Iraq, counting for the qualification for the 2022 World Cup, in a stadium in Tehran. in Qatar.
“I am very happy. This is the first time that I have attended a match at the Azadi stadium,” exclaims Mahya, a 26-year-old civil engineer, her head covered with a gray scarf, who proudly wears the national flag.
10,000 tickets, including 2,000 reserved for women, were available for this match, reported the ISNA agency. Women entered the stadium through a special entrance through a parking lot where policewomen in chadors with red badges on their arms controlled arrivals. The men had to take another entrance.
In October 2019, the last time women were allowed to attend an Iran team game, they were separated from the men and watched by female police officers.
“It’s nothing strange”
“Really, there is nothing strange or complicated for a woman to come to the stadium. It should have happened earlier, but I’m very happy. I hope this will continue and that I will be able to attend championship matches,” continued Mahya, all to his delight.
For about 40 years, the Islamic Republic has generally prohibited female spectators from entering stadiums, particularly for football matches, because the clerics, who play a major role, maintain that they must be protected from the male atmosphere and view of partially undressed men.
In September 2019, world football’s governing body FIFA ordered Iran to allow women unrestricted access to stadiums.
(AFP)