FIFA: Iran ‘Assures’ to End Stadium Ban for Women
FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has released a statement confirming that Iranian football officials have assured that “women will be allowed to enter football stadiums”.
The announcement comes following the death of a female Iranian soccer fan, Sahar Khodayari, who set herself on fire outside the court.
She had been found guilty of sneaking into a match disguised as a man, and was to be subsequently imprisoned for six months.
Miss Khodayari’s death caused widespread grief and outrage, both in and outside Iran. Football players and fans around the world condemned the ban, and pleaded for FIFA’s intervention.
FIFA officials have spent a week in meetings with the Iran Football Association in preparation for the 2020 World Cup qualifiers.
Regarding the discrimination ban, Infantino said: “We have been assured that as of the next international game of Iran… women will be allowed to enter football stadiums. This is something very important – in 40 years this has not happened, with a couple of exceptions.”
He further confirmed that the first international match in Iran takes place on Thursday, 10 October, at the Azadi stadium in Tehran as there are “no noteworthy operational obstacles” stopping this change to be adopted.
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