Consider this a scissor kick for international women’s rights.
On Tuesday, after a nearly 40-year ban on women watching male sporting events, Iranian women were finally permitted into Tehran’s Azadi Stadium to watch a live broadcast of Iran’s World Cup match against Spain.
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Having been approved by a local city council in advance, the mixed screening reportedly almost didn’t happen. Authorities tried to halt it at the last minute, citing “infrastructure problems,” the Washington Post reported.
But after a sit-in protest, all ticket holders — including women — were let in, reported ABC News. Iran lost 1-0 to Spain, but the event was deemed a win for women’s rights activists.
A moment of history 🇮🇷
— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) June 20, 2018
Iranian women were allowed into the national stadium in Tehran for the first time ever this evening to watch a screening of the #WorldCup game against Spain. pic.twitter.com/jqsPafXd51
Iranian women have been banned from soccer games since 1981, when the country’s new religious government declared stadiums inappropriate places for women, ABC News reported.
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There is no official law against it, but women are regularly turned away from games and sometimes arrested for attempting to enter stadiums.
As a result, female sports fans have increasingly resorted to covert viewings, entering stadiums disguised as men or traveling abroad to cheer for their home team.
Read More: In Iran, Women Were Banned From Attending a Soccer Game Because They're Women
A group called Open Stadiums has been actively campaigning against the ban for 13 years, and recently sent members to the World Cup in Russia. At a match in St. Petersburg last week, the women attracted international attention after unfurling banners protesting the ban inside the Krestovsky stadium.
It was the first time Iranian women made such a protest at a World Cup.
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