Iran orders probe after women barred from football game

TEHRAN, Iran

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has ordered an investigation into Tuesday’s incident during a football match between Iran and Lebanon where women were barred from entering the stadium and pepper-sprayed.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Raisi ordered his interior minister to “thoroughly investigate” the matter and take “necessary measures”, his office said.

The incident that took place outside a football stadium in the northeastern city of Mashhad when Iran was taking on Lebanon in the World Cup 2022 qualifier has led to a widespread outcry across the country.

According to reports and eyewitnesses, women were prevented from entering the stadium despite possessing tickets and were greeted with pepper spray when they protested against the decision.

According to local media, a total of 12,500 tickets had been sold online for the match, with 2,000 seats reserved exclusively for women.

Iran and the world football’s governing body FIFA have had many run-ins over the years on the presence of women in football stadiums, with FIFA long demanding that Tehran allow them inside the stadiums.

Women have been barred from entering sports stadiums in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

It remains unclear if FIFA or its Asian chapter will take any punitive action against Iran over the incident, which has already created ripples in the football world.

Outcry

Following the match on Tuesday – which Iran won 2-0 to end up as the group topper – videos circulating on social media showed female football fans angrily protesting outside the stadium.

It sparked massive anger and outrage across the country, prompting top officials to take notice.

Government spokesman, Ali Bahadori Jahromi, said in a statement on Wednesday that government officials, including President Raisi, had “protested” against the incident.

In a separate statement, Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Baqar Qalibaf, called it an “irrational and disrespectful” behavior toward women, blaming it on “managerial shortcomings and hasty decisions.”

The country’s attorney general, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, also took note of the incident and said it was “unacceptable” to sell the tickets and then prevent women from entering the stadium.

The governor of Mashhad, the second-most populous city in the country, said the people responsible for the incident will “definitely be dealt with.”

Mohsen Davari said he “apologizes” to the people who were not able to enter the stadium and were deprived of watching the football match, including the women.

The issue of women’s presence in sports stadiums in Iran has been widely debated both inside and outside the country, with the issue even reaching the parliament.

In January, around 2,000 women were allowed to enter the Azadi Stadium in Tehran to watch Iran’s match against Iraq, when Iran became the first Asian side to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Before that, in 2019, women in Iran were for the first time in four decades allowed inside Azadi Stadium to watch the Asian Champions League final between Iran’s Persepolis and Japan’s Kashima Antlers.

It came in the wake of the death of football fan Sahar Khodayari, who died after setting herself on fire. She had been reportedly arrested after trying to enter Azadi Stadium disguised as a man.

Following Tuesday’s match, Iranian team skipper Alireza Jahanbakhsh said it would be great to see women in stadiums, making a strong case for the complete lifting of the decades-long ban.