Women were once more prevented from attending a match for the Iranian national team from inside the stadium, this time during the team’s match with its Lebanese guest in the Asian qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, according to local media.
The match, which was won by the host team, the guarantor of its qualification for the finals, with a score of 2-0, was held on Tuesday at the “Imam Reza” stadium in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
ISNA news agency reported that “regarding 2,000 Iranian women who bought tickets for the Iran-Lebanon match were in the vicinity of Imam Reza Stadium, but were unable to enter the stadium.”
“12,500 tickets for this match were sold, including 2,000 for women,” she said.
“I apologize that many people were not able to enter the stadium and watch the match between the teams of Iran and Lebanon,” Mohsen Davari, the governor of Mashhad, told public broadcaster IRIB.
“Unfortunately, a large number of people outside the stadium were prevented from watching the match and it was not possible for them to enter the stadium,” he added.
In the face of the controversy, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on Wednesday ordered the Interior Ministry to look into the incident.
“I don’t think anything would have happened if women had come to the stadium, on the contrary, it might promote our culture,” IRIB quoted national team captain Ali Reza Jahanbakhsh as saying on Wednesday.
For his part, Iranian Prosecutor General Mohammad Jaafar Montazeri said on Wednesday that “if conditions permit the sale of tickets to women, a suitable place must be found for them,” adding, “what happened is unacceptable.”
Iranian women were allowed to attend a national team soccer match for the first time in nearly three years last January in a World Cup qualifier match between Iran and Iraq.
The Islamic Republic has generally banned women from attending sports competitions from inside facilities for regarding 40 years. The International Football Association (FIFA) ordered Iran in September 2019 to allow women to enter stadiums without restrictions and a number determined by the number of tickets sold.
FIFA’s directive came amid Iran’s threat to be expelled from international competitions following a fan named Sahar Khodayari died following setting herself on fire for fear of imprisonment for trying to attend a match.
FIFA has been pressing for years for Iran to open the doors of its stadiums to women, but Tehran has allowed only a limited number to attend matches until 2019 on rare occasions.
