Under the pretext of women entering the stadium, many female officers will be present at the stadium for "security control".
After FIFA pressured the Football Federation to sell tickets to women to watch the Iran-Cambodia game, the police announced the presence of female officers at Azadi Stadium.
Women's ticket sales for the upcoming Iran-Cambodia match, scheduled to be held on Thursday, October 8, were met with an unprecedented response, to the point that, according to reports, the tickets reserved for women sold out in just a few minutes.
Tehran Police Chief Hossein Rahimi also announced on Sunday, October 4, the presence of “a large number of female police officers” at the stadium. The police official stated that the reason for the presence of this number of female officers at the stadium was “the presence of women” and “security control and ensuring security at the stadium.”
The security perspective on the presence of women in stadiums by Iranian authorities is a well-known one. Previously, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic of Iran, had described the presence of women in stadiums as "calculated moves by the enemies."
The match between the national football teams of Iran and Cambodia in the World Cup qualifiers is scheduled to be held on October 8 at 5:00 PM at Tehran's Azadi Stadium.
Tickets were sold for the match under pressure from FIFA, and reports indicate that although one seat was initially reserved for women in the stadium, women ended up buying four seats. The media put the number of tickets sold to women for the match at 4,000. The share of women in the Azadi Stadium seats is very small compared to men.
The issue of women entering stadiums after the self-immolation and death of Sahar Khodayari, known as the "Blue Girl" in Iran, was once again raised on a large and international level, with many calling for women to refrain from going to stadiums, and some calling for FIFA to take action against Iranian football officials for banning women from entering stadiums.
The US State Department has always strongly condemned the violation of women's rights in Iran by the Islamic Republic regime and has called for an end to harassment and discrimination against women who are only demanding their basic and fundamental rights.
Source: Voice of America
