Women finally allowed to enter Iran's stadiums but battle for rights goes on

In December, 3,000 women watched the Tehran derby but seats are often poor and there is a limit on attendees

- John Duerden

It's been a long road from the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the start of the ban on women from watching football at stadiums to allowing access to the female half of a football-loving population.

There is still far to go but in December steps were finally taken by 3,000 women to the upper tiers of the cavernous Azadi Stadium to watch the Tehran derby between the twin giants of Persepolis and Esteghlal.

"The general sentiment is 'finally!' This should have happened a long time ago," Tara Sepehri Far of Human Rights Watch tells the Guardian. She pays tribute to the persistence of women as well as sports fans, teams and athletes. "Combined with Fifa's pressing it made it much harder for authorities to justify this arbitrary and discriminatory ban."

Open Stadiums, a movement of Iranian women which seeks to end discrimination, welcomed the move. "The opening of stadiums in Iran is a result of two decades of campaigning constantly against the regime and religious clerics who are anti-women's rights," Sara, not her real name, of Open Stadiums says. "It comes after lots of physical harassment and even the death of a female fan."

Sahar Khodayari, AKA The Blue Girl, after the colours of her team Esteghlal, died in September 2019 with 90% burns. She set herself on fire outside a Tehran court upon learning she faced six months in prison. Her crime? Six months earlier, she had gone to the Azadi to watch her team play. But her disguise, meant to make her look like a man, did not work and she was arrested.