Women's Cultural-Social Council Excludes Decision on Women's Attendance at Stadiums from Agenda

The Women's Cultural and Social Council announced that due to the opposition of Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a Shia cleric residing in Qom, to women's attendance at stadiums, it deemed the approval of a resolution on this matter "unnecessary" and has removed the topic from its agenda. The public relations office of the Women's Cultural-Social Council and Family reported on Tuesday, December 5, that the agenda of the council's last meeting was "determining the policy for women's attendance at stadiums." However, the council stated that due to Makarem Shirazi's opposition, the opinions of clerics on this issue were considered "decisive." The Women's Cultural-Social Council and Family emphasized that "given the priority of many other issues concerning women's societal problems, it declared the approval of a resolution regarding women's attendance at stadiums unnecessary." The Women's Cultural-Social Council and Family was established in 2010 by a resolution from the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, and most of its members are representatives of institutions affiliated with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The heads of the three branches of government, the Qom seminary, and the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council have two representatives, while some other institutions have one representative in this council. Zahra Ayatollahi, the head of the Women's Cultural-Social Council and Family, stated on October 20 that the issue of women's attendance at stadiums was under review in this council. However, Naser Makarem Shirazi on December 29 described the issue of women's entry to stadiums as a "diversionary discussion" and stated that this matter "should no longer be raised." This cleric emphasized: "Is the problem of our country the entry of women to stadiums? The problems of the people are the high cost of bread, unemployment among educated youth, and banking issues that have impoverished the people." Following that, Jaafar Subhani, another cleric, stated that women's entry to stadiums "is not compatible with their modesty" and that instead of this plan, "thought should be given to their marriage." Officials of Hassan Rouhani's government have repeatedly reported efforts to allow women to attend stadiums for watching matches; however, this prohibition remains in place. Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, previously acknowledged that "women's attendance at stadiums is a demand," without mentioning details, stating that "some prevented women's entry to the stadiums." The issue of women's entry to stadiums has long been a problem for Iranian sports and governments. A group of women managed to attend a World Cup qualifying match against Bahrain in 2006. The then-president, Mohammad Khatami, was also present at this match. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his first presidential term in 2006, requested the Sports Organization to facilitate women's attendance at stadiums in a letter, but after the opposition of several Shia clerics, this order was left unaddressed. This situation has led several Asian and global federations to warn Iran that if women are excluded from stadiums, Iran will face sanctions. As a result, in some international competitions, a small number of women have been allowed to enter stadiums in a selective and controlled manner.