Life in Iran for women has been quite outdated and set back for several decades now, but one thing that has kept these women optimistic is the possibility of their homeland in qualifying for the prestigious World Cup in 2022. It has been reported by ESPN that Iranian women have taken advantage of the Iranian authorities’ decision to let women attend the game and bought the majority of the allotted tickets for Iran ahead of the October 10th match. Luckily, the ticket sweep and female sportswomen supporting the team was a bonus on top of Iran’s 14-0 victory over Cambodia.
There were 3,500 allotted tickets for Iranian women up for sale which instantly sold out after just one full minute last Friday. Reuters was told by FIFA to expect a total of 4,600 tickets sold for women which were only made available in the women section only. An official spokesperson of FIFA released a statement guaranteeing that there will be strict monitoring of women entering during the match at Tehran that can only accommodate 78,000 people in the Azadi Stadium.
A women’s rights and activist organization called “Open Stadiums” launched a campaign earlier in the year to give Iranian women the opportunity to freely attend football matches. It was reported that ticket sales for the Iran-Cambodia World Cup qualifier were not announced prior by the Iranian Football Federation which barely got to women who really wanted to see the match and only learned about the sale via social media.
It’s an understatement that women’s rights and freedom have a long way to go before becoming a taboo topic and an actual human right. The Iranian Football Federation’s grant to give women the chance to watch football matches freely is one step towards a better Iran in sports and in society hopefully. With FIFA backing up the demand for women’s rights in sports, possibilities are endless. Nevertheless, the fight for feminism goes forth in a controversial and conservative country like Iran.
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