Washington Post Reports on Iranian Women’s First Presence at Azadi Stadium After Revolution
The Washington Post has reported on the presence of women at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Wednesday, writing: For the first time since 1980, Iranian women were allowed to watch a World Cup match alongside men in a stadium.
According to the newspaper, for 38 years women in Iran had been banned from watching men’s matches. However, on Tuesday, domestic news agencies reported that women would be allowed to watch the live broadcast of the Iran-Spain match at Azadi Stadium. But only hours before the stadium doors were scheduled to open, authorities cancelled the event.
Tasnim News Agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, announced: “Due to infrastructure problems, tonight’s Iran-Spain match in the World Cup football competition will not be broadcast from Azadi Stadium.” Tasnim released this news just three hours before the match began with only two sentences. Tasnim further wrote, quoting its “police correspondent”: “Given that this match will not be broadcast, we kindly ask the dear people to refrain from going to Azadi Stadium.”
In its report, the Washington Post writes that nevertheless, many gathered at Azadi Stadium, and images of male and female spectators staring at police officers who had blocked the stadium’s entrance were posted on Twitter. Then after about an hour passed, security forces withdrew and the stadium doors opened to Iranian women, men, and children who had purchased tickets, and people took out their smartphones to document this historic moment, taking photos and posting them on Twitter.
The ban on Iranian women’s presence in stadiums has been a recurring source of protest. However, as the World Cup approached, it faced increasingly intense opposition. Earlier this year, Iran explicitly reinforced the ban on women attending stadiums, a prohibition that was implemented after the clergy came to power in 1979. But in March, 35 women attempted to enter Azadi Stadium to watch two domestic matches, and it was one day after this that the FIFA president, who was present at the match, told reporters that Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, had “promised” that women in Iran would soon have access to football stadiums.
According to the Washington Post, Iranian women hope that the laws regarding watching sporting events in Iran will eventually change.
Yegane Razaieian, the wife of Jason Rezaieian (Washington Post writer), a 34-year-old reporter based in Washington who watched the 2014 World Cup matches in dark Tehran coffee shops, is also optimistic about change and says with hope: If we did it once…we can try and do it again.
Source: Voice of America
