Human Rights Watch Urges International Volleyball Federation to Prevent Iran from Hosting

On Thursday, October 14, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the president of the International Volleyball Federation, urging him to prevent Iran from hosting events due to the Islamic Republic's officials barring women from attending stadiums. The letter addressed to Ari Garcia states: "The organizers of the World Volleyball League in Tehran last summer prevented women from freely purchasing tickets to watch the matches in the stadium, which is a form of discrimination." Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, said on Thursday: "Iranian officials did not fulfill their promises regarding women's free ticket purchases to watch the World League matches last July, and now granting another hosting opportunity to Iran emboldens these officials in their discriminatory policies to marginalize women." She added: "The International Volleyball Federation may want to support the growth of volleyball in Iran, but supporting discrimination and contradictory and unacceptable standards is not the way to achieve such a goal." The International Volleyball Federation is set to announce the hosts for the 2017 competitions in the coming weeks, and Iran is one of the countries that has volunteered to host these events. According to Human Rights Watch, Iranian officials announced last summer during the volleyball matches in Tehran that some seats in Azadi Stadium were allocated for women, but this human rights organization claims that tickets were not made available to the general public of women, and only a few Iranian female officials or wives of foreign diplomats were allowed to attend the stadium. Human Rights Watch has previously criticized the exclusion of Iranian women from attending stadiums and watching matches through statements or letters to the International Volleyball Federation. They further requested that the International Volleyball Federation not allow Iran to host competitions until the Islamic Republic officials fulfill their promises regarding permitting women to attend stadiums. Mohammad Davarzani, president of the Iranian Volleyball Federation, predicted last July that due to the ban on women's attendance in volleyball halls, Iran would be deprived of hosting "important games such as the World League final or international competitions in various age categories" in the future. Following the ban on women's attendance in the country's sports halls, the International Volleyball Federation has withdrawn hosting rights for several international competitions from Iran in recent years. Officials of Hassan Rouhani's government announced last year that they were preparing regulations on this matter. However, ultimately Shahindokht Molaverdi, Rouhani's deputy for women and family affairs, announced that the government had abandoned pursuing this issue due to the stance of some Shia clerics. Over the years, the debate over women's attendance in volleyball halls has led to controversies and protests, and some Iranians abroad have tried to draw global attention to this issue by attending stadiums and displaying placards protesting the Islamic Republic's officials' ban on women's attendance in stadiums. However, there are also opponents to Iranian women's attendance in stadiums, including Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a Shia cleric in Qom, who opposes women's presence in stadiums. Some forces known as "Ansar Hezbollah" have also protested against women's attendance in stadiums several times in front of the Ministry of Sports and Youth.