AA / Tehran / Syed Zafar Mehdi
Women were allowed for the first time on Thursday to attend a league match between two well-known football clubs at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
About 500 female supporters went to this emblematic stadium in western Tehran to watch the match between Esteghlal and Mes Kerman in the Iranian Football Championship (Persian Gulf Pro League).
Videos online showed women crying tears of joy, bowing to show their gratitude and shouting and cheering for their favorite team.
“We are delighted with your presence at Azadi Stadium,” Esteghlal club tweeted before kick-off.
Most of the women wore blue jerseys and hats to support the local team, Esteghlal, one of the oldest football clubs in the country. Esteghlal won 1-0.
Social media hailed the “historic moment”, with one netizen writing that although Esteghlal won, the real winners were the women who finally made it to the stadium.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, women have been barred from entering stadiums since the 1979 revolution.
The issue has sparked a heated debate between the country’s football association and FIFA, world football’s governing body demanding the ban be lifted.
This question has also been the subject of much debate in Iran.
Last October, the Iranian Football Federation asked parliament to pass a law overturning the ban.
In January, 2,000 women were allowed into Azadi Stadium to watch Iran play against Iraq, where the home side qualified for the 2022 World Cup.
Before that, women were allowed to enter the stadium to watch the 2019 Asian Champions League final between Persepolis (Iran) and Kashima Antlers (Japan).
It was the first time in 40 years that women could watch men play football live.
Controversy erupted in March after women were barred from a stadium in Mashhad and sprayed with pepper spray during Iran’s World Cup qualifier against Iran. Lebanon.
It sparked nationwide protests, prompting the government to launch an investigation.
This Thursday, however, is the first time Iranian women have been allowed to attend a local league game.
After the match, former government spokesman Ali Rabiei wrote on Twitter that people’s satisfaction comes through “active and timely policies”, not “passive policies and actions”.
*Translated from English by Mourad Belhaj
Only part of the dispatches, which Anadolu Agency broadcasts to its subscribers via the Internal Broadcasting System (HAS), is broadcast on the AA website, in a summarized manner. Please contact us to subscribe.