Iranian football boss has stated that women in Iran — who have been banned from attending football matches from a long time — can now watch matches from the stadium.
The head of Iran’s Football Federation Mehdi Taj was speaking on the drawing ceremony of Iran’s top-level football which will consist of 16 teams and is set to begin next August.
"This year, one of the prominent features of this league... is that we will witness the entry of women into stadiums," said Mehdi.
Ever since the Islamic revolution of 1979, women in Iran have not been allowed to enter sports stadiums even though there is no law in Iranian constitution that prevents them from attending matches.
Clerics, who play a major role in decision-making in Iran, have argued that women must be shielded from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad male athletes.
However, despite all this, Taj on Sunday confirmed that some stadiums in the cities of Isfahan, Kerman and Ahvaz -- but not the capital Tehran -- were "ready" to host women.
In August, when Tehran club Esteghlal played another club, Mes Kerman, women were permitted for the first time to attend a football match.
In another instance, around 4000 women were allowed to attend Iran’s World Cup 2022 Qualifier’s match against Cambodia at Tehran Azadi Stadium in 2019.
Iran has faced massive pressure to allow women to attend matches after the death of a football fan Sahar Khodayari, who in 2019 set herself on fire for fear of being jailed as she tried to attend a football disguised as a man.
Khodayari became the symbol of movement and after four long years of the struggle, one might finally start seeing Iranian women enjoying football matches in the stadium.