Minister of Sports Optimistic About Women's Return to Stadiums

Despite the public opposition from judicial officials and clerics regarding women's presence in stadiums, Iran's Minister of Sports states that if there is 'coordination' among the institutions of the Islamic Republic, women can once again attend football matches in stadiums. Masoud Soltani Far made this statement referring to the presence of some Iranian women at a friendly football match between the national teams of Iran and Bolivia held in late October. Under pressure from the President of FIFA and a deadline set by FIFA, a number of women, selected 'selectively' and in coordination with the Iranian Football Federation, were allowed to attend this match at Azadi Stadium. This event led Abdullah Hajizadeh, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to explicitly describe women's presence in stadiums as 'a precursor to sins.' Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, threatened one day after the match that if women's presence in stadiums continues, 'we will take legal action.' In controversial remarks that sparked significant reactions on social media, he stated that 'when a woman goes to a stadium and encounters men in sports attire and half-naked, sin occurs.' However, despite this opposition, the Minister of Sports expressed hope in an interview with ILNA that 'if the necessary coordination for future matches, especially national team games, exists among all agencies and permission is granted, this will happen.' According to Mr. Soltani Far, women's attendance at the football match between Iran and Bolivia was made possible by obtaining permission from the Tehran Security Council, and 'if this coordination among all agencies continues in the future, this will happen again.' As reported by ILNA, the women present at the Iran-Bolivia match were selected from among the families of national football team players, women's national football and futsal teams, and female employees of the Football Federation. Although the Minister of Sports' 'proposal' for women's attendance at the match between Persepolis and Al-Sadd of Qatar was not realized, their presence at the match between Iran and Bolivia has created 'hopes.' Women's entry to stadiums for watching sports competitions has been banned since the early years of the 1979 revolution, and they have only been able to watch some matches for about 20 years. In this year's World Cup, after much struggle, women were allowed twice to watch live broadcasts of the Iranian national football team's matches at Azadi Stadium, which drew criticism from several clerics, religious figures, and judicial officials. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former President of Iran, issued an order for women's entry into stadiums in 2006, but this order was not implemented after opposition from clerics. In recent years, several women's rights activists and social activists have worked to lift the ban on women's entry to stadiums, including sending a letter to FIFA, urging it to compel the Islamic Republic to end the prohibition on women's presence in stadiums.