RFE
10 Oct 2019, 13:45 GMT+10
Thousands of Iranian female fans are set to attend their national team's soccer World Cup qualifier against Cambodia at Tehran's Azadi Stadium.
The October 10 match will be the first time since shortly after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979 that women can 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 upcoming match. Those lucky ones will be 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 Philippine Times 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 Philippine Times.
More InformationWARSAW, Poland: Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski confirmed over the weekend that Poland has been covering the cost of Ukraine's...
Israel sustained the West's support for its slaughter in Gaza for 15 months only through an intensive campaign of lies. It invented...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Pentagon announced this week that it will cut 5,400 jobs as part of President Donald Trump's plan to shrink the...
SACRAMENTO, California: California Governor Gavin Newsom is urging Congress to approve nearly US$40 billion in federal assistance to...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: A U.S. government scholarship program designed to help students from underserved and rural areas attend historically...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: A proposed 10 percent U.S. tariff on oil imports could deal a US$10 billion annual blow to foreign producers, particularly...
LONON, U.K.: British Petroleum is set to abandon its ambitious renewable energy expansion targets in favor of a stronger focus on fossil...
WOLFSBURG, Germany: Volkswagen is strengthening its push into China's electric vehicle (EV) sector by partnering with CATL, the world's...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks floundered on Thursday as new trade tariffs were imposed, and those paused were given the green light. ...
LONDON, U.K.: Despite regulatory efforts, unauthorized disposable vapes continue to dominate a significant portion of the U.S. e-cigarette...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: As the deadline for new U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs approaches, manufacturers across the country are already...
BRUSSELS/LONDON: The European Commission is preparing to ease sustainability reporting requirements for businesses as part of a broader...