Iranian ladies fans are allowed to enter a football stadium Thursday without precedent for decades after FIFA threatened to suspend the Islamic republic over its dubious male-just approach.
Iran has banished female onlookers from football and different arenas for around 40 years, with ministers contending they should be protected from the manly climate and sight of semi-clad men.
World football’s overseeing body FIFA a month ago arranged Iran to permit ladies access to arenas without confinements and in numbers controlled by interest for tickets.
The mandate came after a fan named “Blue Girl passed on in the wake of setting herself ablaze in dread of being imprisoned for taking on the appearance of a kid so as to go to a match.
Ladies rushed to get their hands on passes to go to Iran’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Cambodia at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Thursday.
The principal bunch sold out in less than 60 minutes, and extra seats were likewise gobbled up very soon, state media said.
A games service authority said the 100,000-limit arena – whose name signifies “Opportunity” in Farsi – was prepared to host even morewomen.
One of the 3,500 ladies to have verified a ticket was Raha Poorbakhsh, a football columnist.
“I still can’t believe this is going to happen because after all these years of working in this field, watching everything on television, now I can experience everything in person,” said Raha to the AFP.
> Puza Sarker Snigdha
