Report: Iran blocked women from attending soccer match
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2022 (1446 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran blocked women from attending the country’s last 2022 World Cup soccer qualifying match Tuesday, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
ISNA said 12,500 tickets were sold online, of which 2,000 had been reserved for women. Iran defeated Lebanon 2-0 in the match. A victory in January over Iraq assured the team a spot in the World Cup in Qatar.
A video circulating on social media shows hundreds of female soccer fans chanting “we have an objection” in response to the decision to ban them from attending the match in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
It was not immediately clear who made the decision to block the women from attending the match.
Khabaronline, an Iranian news website, said that “despite tickets being sold, women are still not allowed to attend the stadium.”
FIFA has long demanded Iran provide assurances that women will be allowed to attend 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Women have been mainly prohibited from attending men’s games and other sports events in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Ahmad Alamolhoda, Friday prayer leader in Mashhad, who was appointed by the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said he is always against the presence of women as spectators in men’s sports competitions. He called their attendance “vulgarity.”
Team captain Alireza Jahanbakhsh, in a post-match interview, said it would be great to see women in stadiums in the future because they also enjoy seeing the national team, known as “TeamMelli,” win.
In January, more than 2,000 female spectators were in Azadi stadium in Tehran when the national team defeated Iraq by one goal to become the first Asian group team to qualify for the World Cup. It was the second major soccer event Iranian women watched in the stadium.
In 2019 and for the first time in decades, for the Asian Champions League final, hundreds of Iranian women were allowed to watch Persepolis play the Kashima Antlers of Japan in Tehran.