Limited Presence of Female Spectators Expected at Nassaji - Al Hilal Match in Tehran

Iranian state media has reported the possibility of 2,500 female spectators attending the football match between Nassaji Mazandaran and Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal during the AFC Champions League. This match will be hosted at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. The state news agency ISNA has stated that 'according to the plan,' 50,000 spectators are expected to watch the match live, of which '2,500 will be women.' Accordingly, the Nassaji football team will face Al Hilal on October 3 at Azadi Stadium, and the ticket sales system will open '48 hours before' the match. In recent decades, following the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, women's presence in stadiums, especially at football matches, has faced restrictions and prohibitions, to the extent that in some cases, women eager to watch football have been arrested or prosecuted for being present outside stadiums. The Nassaji team cannot host this match at its 'home stadium' due to not receiving permission for 'Vatan Stadium' in Qaem Shahr, and its matches in Asia have been moved to Azadi Stadium, which, according to Islamic Republic sports officials, is currently undergoing 'renovation and improvement of the stands and stadium structure.' The possibility of Iranian women attending stadiums to watch sports competitions, especially football, has been accompanied by many restrictions and prohibitions over the past decades, and in a few instances, such as the June 2005 match between the Iranian national football team and Bahrain (World Cup 2006 qualifiers) at Azadi Stadium, they were allowed to attend in limited numbers. On the other hand, since the beginning of the current Iranian football season, no spectators have been allowed at the Premier League and AFC Champions League matches (the match between Persepolis and Al Nassr was also banned from having spectators by the disciplinary committee) at this stadium. Following serious warnings from international sports organizations to the Islamic Republic regarding the necessity of granting 'the right to enter the stadium' for women and the potential for serious sanctions against Iranian football if this is not implemented, women have finally been allowed to attend matches in a limited capacity in several cities, including Sirjan in Kerman province, in recent months. On August 25, 2022, a group of Iranian women were allowed to attend the match between Esteghlal and Mes Kerman at Azadi Stadium. In this event, which some social media users described as 'limited,' 'selective,' and 'symbolic,' chants were raised in support of 'Blue Girl' and Voria Ghafouri, the team captain and a critic of the Islamic Republic. Sahar Khodayari, known as 'Blue Girl,' was 28 years old and a supporter of Esteghlal football team, who went to Azadi Stadium in March 2019 to watch the match between Esteghlal Tehran and Al Ain of the UAE and was arrested. After this arrest and temporary release, she was summoned to the Islamic Republic's prosecutor's office and was told to prepare for a prison sentence. In protest against this sentence, she self-immolated near the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on September 9, 2019, and died. A number of women supporters of Malavan also managed to attend the stadium in Anzali. Limited presence of women in the stadium to watch the Tractor - Al Sharjah match marked the beginning of the first week of the Iranian Premier League; women were only allowed to enter the stadium in Sirjan. Women were present in the stadium for the Gol Gohar Sirjan match against Foolad Khuzestan.