RFE
10 Oct 2019, 23:45 GMT+10
Thousands of Iranian female fans have attended their national team's soccer World Cup qualifier against Cambodia at Tehran's Azadi Stadium.
The October 10 match was the first time since shortly after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 that women were allowed to watch a men's game without needing special, rare invitations or being forced to sneak in disguised as men.
Some 3,500 tickets have been sold to female fans for the match, which Iran won 14-0. Those lucky ones were segregated from men and watched over by female police officers.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International called that a 'token number' and a 'publicity stunt,' given that the stadium has a capacity of nearly 80,000.
Women have taken to social media to demand more tickets, using the hashtag #WakeUpFifa.
The ban on women attending men's sporting events came to global prominence after Sahar Khodayari, dubbed 'Blue Girl' for the colors of her favorite team, lit herself on fire outside court last month as she awaited trial for trying to attend a match disguised as a man. She died on September 9.
FIFA, which has pressed Iran to allow women to attend qualifiers ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, has said it will 'stand firm' in ensuring women have access to all soccer matches in Iran.
'It's not just about one match. We're not going to turn our eyes away from this,' FIFA's head of education and social responsibility, Joyce Cook, told the BBC on October 9.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called October 10 'a historic day in Iran,' but also urged the authorities to overturn 'this discriminatory rule so that Iranian women can exercise their basic right to attend a football match just like men.'
In a statement, Philip Luther of Amnesty International said that allowing only 3,500 tickets to be sold to women for the World Cup qualifier was 'a cynical publicity stunt by the authorities intended to whitewash their image following the global outcry over Sahar Khodayari's tragic death.'
'Anything short of a full reversal of the ban on women accessing all football stadiums is an insult to Sahar Khodayari's memory and an affront to the rights of all the women of Iran who have been courageously campaigning for the ban to be lifted,' Luther added.
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036
Get a daily dose of Peking Press news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Peking Press.
More InformationHONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...
NEW YORK, New York - Monday's trading session saw mixed performances across U.S. and global markets, with several major indices posting...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. government has granted GE Aerospace permission to resume jet engine shipments to China's COMAC, a person...
DUBAI, U.A.E.: Saudi Aramco is exploring asset sales as part of a broader push to unlock capital, with gas-fired power plants among...
MILAN, Italy: Italian regulators have flagged four non-EU countries—including Russia—as carrying systemic financial risk for domestic...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: With just weeks to spare before a potential government default, U.S. lawmakers passed a sweeping tax and spending...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. government has granted GE Aerospace permission to resume jet engine shipments to China's COMAC, a person...
MOSCOW, Russia: This week, Russia became the first country to officially recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan since...
PARIS, France: Fast-fashion giant Shein has been fined 40 million euros by France's antitrust authority over deceptive discount practices...
BEIJING, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Initiated by the International Union of Railways (UIC) in 1992, the UIC World Congress on High-Speed Rail...
Cruising into friendship! Young Chinese, especially fresh high school and university graduates, are fueling a boom in cruise travel...