The "Blue Girl" fire spread abroad.
No one would have thought that the ban on Iranian women in stadiums would eventually give rise to the hashtag “Bluegirl.” Football fans around the world have used this hashtag to mourn a girl who once “went to Azadi Stadium with the love of Esteghlal.”
It was not for nothing that the newspaper "Iran" reported the concern of Dariush Mostafavi, the former head of the Iranian Football Federation, about the globalization of the news of the self-immolation of "a girl supporting the Esteghlal team" and the damage to "Iran's image in the world's public eye."
Mostafavi was right, this news became global. But it wasn't his "forbidden love" for football, nor his breaking the law and entering the men's Azadi Stadium, but rather the news of his death that became global; the death of a girl named "Blue" who burned in the red newspapers.
Sahar's sister, while she was hospitalized at Motahari Burn and Trauma Hospital in Tehran, told Rokna that her sister was arrested and transferred to Varamin Prison for entering the Azadi Stadium to watch the Esteghlal-Al Ain match last March. After being released on bail, she found out when she went to the Tehran Prosecutor's Office that she had been sentenced to six months in prison, but she set herself on fire there "in protest of this sentence" and finally died a few days later.
Christoph Becker, from the sports editorial board of the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, tweeted the reaction of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to Sahar's death. FIFA, which had previously pressured Iran's ban on women entering stadiums to be lifted "partially" if possible, called Sahar's death "sad" in a statement, offered "condolences" to her family and friends, and called on Iranian authorities to lift the ban on women's presence in stadiums.
A Twitter account run by football fans, FLAF, reacted to Sahar’s death by calling the situation for women in Iran who want to watch football “disappointing.” The page wrote that the death of the “Blue Girl” had sparked calls for a boycott of football matches in Iran until women were allowed in.
Raul Kaluapala of the UOW News editorial board asks in a tweet: “What was his crime? That he is a football fan?” He finds it “surprising” that FIFA has not yet banned Iran from participating in all international competitions with this “medieval” ban.
A Twitter user named “Mulanium” asks, referring to a summary of Sahar Khodayari’s fate: “When are you going to actually do something?”
The news was too shocking not to make it into the international media. From the news networks CNN and BBC to the newspapers Washington Post, Guardian, and the Associated Press, Reuters, and France 24, everyone has reported on the matter.
The Associated Press, which has covered the incident in detail in separate reports, summarized Sahar's story on Twitter, stating that she disguised herself as a man to watch her favorite team's soccer game.
The German and English sections of Deutsche Welle have also covered Sahar. The English section of Deutsche Welle has referred to Sahar's fate, saying that she set herself on fire during legal proceedings against her attempt to attend a football match in Iran.
Deutschlandfunk Sport tweeted about the story of "this young woman" who set herself on fire in a "protest."
"De Nachrichten" also wrote: "He set himself on fire because he was threatened, he is going to prison for violating the ban on entering the stadium."
"He set himself on fire to escape prison," writes a user named Andreas Halaschka.
This tweet, referring to the price of this liberation, which was Sahar's death, mentions that football fans around the world are mourning this event with the hashtag "Bluegirl."
Source: DW
