Rohani Calls for Women's Presence in Stadiums

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, expressed his support for allowing women to attend stadiums and for broadcasting women's sports events on state television. According to the IRNA news agency, Mr. Rouhani made this statement on Tuesday evening during a meeting with several Iranian athletes. The President of Iran said, "They say that ugly words are spoken in football stadiums and it is not right for women to be present there. Should women pay the price if our men say something inappropriate in stadiums?" Hassan Rouhani added, "What is wrong with the television broadcasting our women's and girls' competitions?" His remarks come at a time when women in Iran have faced a ban on attending sports stadiums for nearly four decades. Although civil and women's rights activists have fought to eliminate this ban, the crackdown on women attempting to enter stadiums has intensified, leading to the arrest of some women. Over the years, some officials of the Islamic Republic have promised to lift these restrictions, but the public opposition from religious authorities and the political exploitation of what is termed the "male-dominated" atmosphere of stadiums, especially football stadiums in Iran, has prevented these promises from being fulfilled. On Tuesday evening, the Iranian President further described the prohibition of women's presence in sports fields as a form of "anti-propaganda" and opposed the justification that women should not be present in these venues due to the use of vulgar language in stadiums. According to Rouhani, since the "criterion and basis" in Islam is that there is "no difference between men and women," Iranian women and girls who wish to participate in social and sports arenas "with hijab and chastity" should be given the opportunity. He then posed the question, "If we show the world that our girls attend sports fields with complete hijab and chastity, is this promoting Islam or is it anti-propaganda?" The highest executive authority in Iran stated that "promoting Islam means showing the world that Islam does not prevent women's social participation," and he sarcastically jabbed at the opponents of this view. Rouhani remarked, "I do not understand why some people view the issue from the perspective that the less women are present in society, streets, universities, teaching, hospitals, and sports, the better and more faith is preserved among the people." The unrestricted entry of women into stadiums has now become one of their demands, which, despite ongoing efforts over the years, remains unanswered. Last year, when Saudi Arabian women were allowed to enter a sports stadium for the first time, criticisms regarding the performance of the Islamic Republic's officials and the approach of clerics and Friday prayer leaders towards this issue once again intensified. Previously, Shahindokht Molaverdi, the former Vice President of Iran for Women and Family Affairs, stated that "the permission for women to enter stadiums has been signed and only needs to be communicated by the Minister of Sports." However, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Minister of Interior, stated that no new decisions have been made in this regard. Plainclothes forces and Ansar Hezbollah have repeatedly warned against women's presence in stadiums and threatened to stand against what they deem "debauchery" in stadiums. In this context, the issue of women's presence in stadiums has reached the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council.