Although Iran lost the game against Spain 1-0 in the current World Cup, it didn’t stop female Iranian spectators from celebrating their first entry of stadiums to watch a soccer match in the past 37 years.
They were allowed to watch the game on huge TV screens in Azadi, the largest stadium in Iran.
It is widely considered as a breakthrough for the country in which women watching men’s sport events can be arrested, monetarily punished or imprisoned.
Iranian women were last allowed inside the Azadi on October 5, 1981, to watch the Tehran derby before being barred as part of sweeping reforms after the Islamic Revolution.
Iranian media outlets reported the relaxation of the strict ban on Tuesday, but just three hours before the match kicked off in Kazan, Russia, officials said they had canceled the livestreaming event, telling fans not to come due to “infrastructure issues.”
However, female fans, along with their male peers, showed up to the stadium and were finally let in hours later under a special order by Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli.
Despite the temporary suspension of the ban, it officially remains in place. Nonetheless, applause for the monumental event has poured in.
Iran’s national soccer team posted “Azadi Stadium, now!” on its Twitter account, with a photo of an Iranian woman holding up the country’s flag.
Iranian captain Masoud Shojaei voiced support of the change by saying “they should set a course that women are also allowed to come to stadiums in the future.”
Sergio Ramos, the Spanish captain from Real Madrid, tweeted a link to a report about the Iranian female fans watching the game, commenting: “They are the ones who won tonight. Hopefully the first of many.”
Twitter users have also been sharing their delight.
But it is hard to tell whether the historical permission will be expanded.
“To talk about this issue now would be disrespectful to the tournament. I prefer to solve our problems within our family and if we have the opportunity to talk about this later, we will,” Shojaei said at a World Cup press briefing on Tuesday.
It has been a long struggle for Iranian activists who have called for the right of women to watch soccer with men. Although 35 women were detained for trying to attend a game held in Azadi in March, their attempt grabbed the attention of FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promised during Infantino’s visit to Iran that the ban on women sports fans will be relaxed some day in the future.
Five women were inside the Azadi stadium in May, wearing beards and wigs to pretend to be men.
Saudi Arabia, a regional neighbor of Iran, allowed women to watch sports live in stadiums last year, following the milestone lifting of a driving ban on Saudi women.
