Iran Cherry Picked Women Soccer Spectators to Please FIFA
by Pedram Samiêi /30January 2022
Iran has systematically limited access of women to men’s sports matches in the past 42 years. However, in the match that led to Iran’s qualification to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Iranian authorities claim that tickets were sold to 2000 women. Women’s rights groups however, say that women spectators were preselected from women who support the state and its ideal hijab.
This move comes after FIFA — International Federation of Association Football — pressured Iran to allow women into sports stadiums as part of its policies against gender discrimnation. Although several women spectators were defying the state-approved hijabs, many of the women present at the stadium wore the dress code that the state has been imposing on women. Rights activists say that Iran is trying to bypass FIFA’s anti-discrimination laws by allowing a select group of women inside the stadiums but not abiding by the anti-discrimination standards of FIFA.
The Iranian national football team reached the 2022 Qatar World Cup on Thursday, December 27, with a 1–0 victory over Iraq. This was one of the few times, and certainly, the first time that authorities approved and even welcomed women to participate in a men’s sports competition as spectators after the Islamic Republic came to power following the 1979 revolution.
However, despite the state media claiming that 2000 tickets were sold to women, not all female spectators were allowed to enter the stadium freely. Women’s rights activists say that the women who were allowed in were present to help the Iranian authorities to escape the anti-discrimination policies of FIFA.
The stadium was segregated for the game based on gender. Women’s rights activists say that ticket sales were not open to women from the public. Those women who attempted to purchase tickets from the sales website were denied access . Women have published screenshots from the sales website, showing that multiple attempts to buy tickets for the women section in the stadium did not go through.
This controversial decision to allow women to enter sports stadiums, which has always faced opposition from Iran’s right-wing and religious clerics, was the result of pressure from FIFA. However, evidence and claims show that the presence of these women in government-approved attires and stadium sections far away from male spectators was a fake show for FIFA.
Shabnam Rahmati, a journalist and women’s rights activist writes on Twitter:
“Since last night, I have been commenting on Instagram on all the posts and stories of people and media containing pictures of women in the stadium that the ticketing system for women was not opened yesterday, and these are the women who went to the stadium selectively.”
Shabnam Mokhtari, another journalist who failed to buy a ticket, also posted a photo of the football ticket sales system and writes:
“Officials say 2,000 tickets were sold for #women_enter_to_Azadi Stadium. We say: In the very first seconds of the opening of the ticket sales system for the Iran-Iraq national team game when one chose the #women section, the remaining capacity was zero! It means that women in the stadium today are insiders or relatives!”
