Iranian women allowed to attend domestic football match for first time in over 40 years
Hundreds of Iranian women attended a professional domestic football match in Tehran for the first time in over 40 years, following a ban on women attending sports stadiums.
Five hundred women were granted access into Tehran's Azadi stadium to watch a league match between Tehran-based Esteghlal FC and visiting team Sanat Mes Kerman FC, from the city of Kerman, the country's semi-official state news agency Fars said.
READ MORE: Roosters star carted off after sickening collision
READ MORE: Hunt's secret meeting with rival NRL club's boss
READ MORE: Gun Panther's injury scare sours thumping win
Women were separated from men in the stadium and entered through a special entrance via a car park, according to the Iranian Football Federation website.
Iran's ban on women attending sports stadiums is not written into law but was put in place shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
While it was the first time in over 40 years Iranian female soccer fans were allowed to watch a game between local teams, women have been able to attend a small number of the national team's matches.
Iranian women fans of Esteghlal football club cheer during a match between Esteghlal and Mes Kerman at the Azadi stadium in the capital Tehran, on August 25, 2022. - Iranian women were allowed today to attend a national football championship match for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in a "historic" move, local media reported. (Photo by Hossein Zohrevand / TASNIM NEWS / AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN ZOHREVAND/TASNIM NEWS/AFP via Getty Images) TASNIM NEWS/AFP via Getty Images
This year, Iranian women were allowed to share a landmark moment as Iran secured qualification for November's World Cup in Qatar.
Three years before that, thousands of women were permitted to attend a World Cup Qualifier game between Iran and Cambodia in 2019, following pressure from human rights groups and the sport's world governing body, FIFA.
That year, FIFA had come under increasing pressure to force Iran to overturn its ban on women entering sports stadiums, in particular following the death of Sahar Khodayari, a female fan who set herself on fire after she was denied access to a football stadium in Tehran.
Dubbed the "Blue Girl" on social media after the colours of her favorite Iranian football team, Esteghlal, Khodayari was charged with "openly committing a sinful act" by "appearing in public without a hijab" when she attempted to enter a stadium "dressed as a man" in March 2019, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
Women at the game were heard chanting "Blue Girl" -- a tribute to Khodayari years after her death.
The backstories and controversies that have ignited feuds involving athletes
