Women Barred Again from Stadiums; The Lock on 'Azadi' Remains Closed

With the match between Iran and the USA, yet another global sporting event was hosted by Iran, and Iranian women were once again barred from attending the stadium. The issue of women's presence in stadiums was more contentious than ever for this match, with both women seeking entry and opponents who held congregational prayers in protest in front of the Ministry of Sports. The 2011 Asian Championship saw equal attendance of men and women in the stadium, with cheers divided between the two sides. However, this equal presence did not last long. When it was announced that women would be barred from entering, some Iranian women, along with women associated with foreign embassies, including Brazil, managed to enter the stadium with flags of rival teams. Increased restrictions on female spectators in volleyball halls led to women employees of the federation, female athletes, coaches, and family members of athletes sitting in the press area! According to a report published last Esfand by ISNA, fake press cards were issued for these individuals to increase the number of journalists and photographers in the World League to 150! However, this trick is no longer effective, and female journalists or those posing as journalists are also unable to enter the hall. The president of the volleyball federation stated that the federation is merely the organizer of the match and cannot decide on the presence or absence of women. Most officials from the Ministry of Sports echoed this sentiment. Davarzani, when asked if he was concerned about penalties from the international federation, told Khabar Online: 'We have corresponded several times about this and we must see what will happen. We have complied with everything they requested regarding the organization of the matches.' During the Iran-USA game, despite preventing women from entering and even barring female journalists, the responsibility of announcing in the hall was given to a woman! Four or five female spectators were also cheering for the Iranian national team. Khabar Online reported that they had Italian passports and, according to international federation rules, Iran cannot prevent women of other nationalities from attending. The author of this report claimed: 'The presence of these few women is sufficient to resolve the threat of losing hosting rights, and the international federation has no excuse to take this unbelievable joy away from the people of Iran.' Ghoncheh Ghavami, one of those who sought to watch the Iran-Italy match in the World League last year, spent over four months in prison. As protests intensified from various volleyball teams around the world and the international federation, she was released on a 100 million toman bail while sentenced to one year of imprisonment and two years of travel ban. Ghoncheh Ghavami wrote on her Facebook page: 'After all those assurances, I will watch the Iran-USA match at home. My Iranian flag has been gathering dust in the closet since last year. I will save it for a not-so-distant day when we collectively enter the stadiums with the Iranian flag on our foreheads.' Shiva Nazar Ahari, a human rights activist, also wrote: 'Many think we do not care about the national team and that our only demand is to lift the hosting ban. The reality is that this demand has been pursued in various ways over the past year. For many of us, 'the right to enter the stadium' is a dream we have chased since childhood, since the days when we had pictures of Abedzadeh and Mahdavikia in our bags.'