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Iranian Women Cheer In Football Stadiums For The First Time In Decades

Iran has barred female spectators from football and other stadiums for around 40 years.

Iranian women draped their national flag round their shoulders as they watched a World Cup qualifier in Tehran – the first time they have been allowed into a stadium in decades.

The sight of women in the stands at Azadi Stadium for Iran’s game against Cambodia marks a decades-long push for the right to do so, following a 1981 ban that followed the country’s Islamic Revolution.

After Fifa threatened to suspend the Islamic Republic over it’s male-only policy, Iran allocated 4,000 tickets for women in a stadium that seats about 80,000 people, keeping them separated from men and under the protection of female police officers.

Iranian women cheer during the World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C qualification football match between Iran and Cambodia at the Azadi stadium in the capital Tehran
ATTA KENARE via Getty Images
Iranian women cheer during the World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C qualification football match between Iran and Cambodia at the Azadi stadium in the capital Tehran

Face-painted Iranian women have often cheered on their team abroad for years, despite being banned from doing so at home.

Zahra Pashaei, a 29-year-old nurse who has only known football games from television, said: “We are so happy that finally we got the chance to go to the stadium. It’s an extraordinary feeling.

“At least for me, 22 or 23 years of longing and regret lies behind this.”

Four thousand tickets were allocated after Fifa threatened to suspend Iran for its male-only policy
ATTA KENARE via Getty Images
Four thousand tickets were allocated after Fifa threatened to suspend Iran for its male-only policy

Iran scored in the game’s fifth minute with a long shot by midfielder Ahmad Nourollahi, and were up 7-0 by half-time.

On Iran’s conservatively-controlled state television, which carried the match live, a shot of the cheering crowd included ecstatic women spectators.

Iran was the world’s last nation to lift a bar on women at matches after Saudi Arabia recently did so.

The Islamic Republic has barred female spectators from football and other stadiums for around 40 years, with clerics arguing they must be shielded from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men
ATTA KENARE via Getty Images
The Islamic Republic has barred female spectators from football and other stadiums for around 40 years, with clerics arguing they must be shielded from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men
Women draped themselves in flags, sounded horns and truly got into the spirit of the match
ATTA KENARE via Getty Images
Women draped themselves in flags, sounded horns and truly got into the spirit of the match

The effort to allow women back into stadiums has gone through fits and starts since the revolution. Iran even barred a woman from holding a sign for the country when it attended its first Summer Olympics in 1986 in South Korea.

A group of Irish women received special permission to attend a qualifier between Iran and Ireland in Tehran in 2001.

In 2006, former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wanted women to attend matches to “improve soccer-watching manners and promote a healthy atmosphere”.

Amnesty International called the decision 'a cynical publicity stunt by the authorities intended to whitewash their image'
ATTA KENARE via Getty Images
Amnesty International called the decision 'a cynical publicity stunt by the authorities intended to whitewash their image'

However, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all matters of state, opposed the decision.

Then, last year, Iranian authorities allowed a select group of women into Azadi Stadium by invitation only to watch the Asian Champion League final.

Activist groups outside of Iran, however, remain suspicious of Tehran. Amnesty International called Thursday’s decision “a cynical publicity stunt by the authorities intended to whitewash their image”.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.