Iran Women’s Entry into Stadiums

Why in news?

Iran’s women were allowed to buy tickets and attend a football match in their own country for the first time since 1981.

Why is it so significant?

In the recent past, Iranian authorities had allowed select female audiences, such as relatives of team members, to attend matches.
However, the current move is the most significant, given the country’s four-decades-old legacy of not allowing women from entering sports stadiums.

How did the restrictions evolve?

In the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Iran’s last monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown by forces led by the conservative Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
After this, an orthodox set of policies were put into force in the country.
Among these policies were the segregation of men and women in public spaces.
In 1981, conservative elements introduced a ban on women entering stadiums to watch football, a highly popular sport there.
This ban was later extended to include volleyball and basketball as their popularity increased.

What were the efforts at removing these?

In the past two decades, resistance against keeping women out of stadiums began to build up.
In 2005, a protest was organised outside Tehran’s Azadi stadium, which carried the signs “let the other half of the society in”.
Women also entered the stadium disguised as men, concealing their hair under caps and wearing fake facial hair.
The acclaimed 2006 film Offside by Iranian filmmaker Jaffar Panahi was based on the women’s activism.
In 2013, the activist group Open Stadiums was formed.
It has pressured international sporting bodies such as FIFA as well as human rights organisations to help ease the restrictions on Iran’s women.

What is the immediate trigger?

Sahar Khodayari, a 29-year-old woman, had in March 2019 sneaked into the Azadi stadium dressed as a man.
Upon detection by the police, she was taken to the court where she was looking at a sentence of 6 months to 2 years.
In September 2019, Khodayari set herself on fire outside the court, and died in hospital a week later.
The young woman’s death caused a major outcry in Iran and around the world.
The hashtag #bluegirl trended online, referring to the team colours of the Esteghlal club that Khodayari supported.

What are the recent changes?

Famous figures, including a former captain of the Iranian football team, called for a boycott of football games as long as the ban on women in stadiums remained in place.
FIFA also said that they would “stand firm” on women being allowed to enter.
This pressurised the Iranian authorities, and there was a threat of Iran being banned from the qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The opening of access to women now is believed to have followed this international pressure.

Source: Indian Express