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January 28, 2025

“Women’s sports are a battlefield for equal rights for women in Iran” – Mostafa Azizi

The peace era of the second decade of the 21st century is coming to an end and the world is facing many changes and imbalances. However, despite any setbacks, significant progress has been made in terms of gender equality in many parts of the world in recent years. Although in some parts of the world, especially in Iran, there have been unbelievable setbacks and regressions. One of the indicators of gender equality is their participation in sports activities. Today, there is no sport in which women are not active, and on the other hand, there is no sport that is exclusively for women. Although the presence of women and men in various sports is different, there are no legal restrictions or prohibitions.

The first presence of Iranian women in the Olympics dates back to fifty years ago, in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. With the changes known as the “White Revolution,” Iran was moving away from feudalism and women were playing a more active role in society. Iranian female athletes, including Nazli Bayat Maku in long jump, Juliette Gafkof in discus throw, and Simin Safamehr in 100m dash and long jump, and Jamileh Sorouri in gymnastics, were making their presence known. However, this was a temporary presence and they did not participate in the following Olympics until the 1976 Montreal Olympics, where they only competed in fencing.

After the February 1979 revolution, although women played a significant role in the victory of the revolution, the ruling regime and its anti-women ideology restricted women in many areas. It was only 20 years later, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, that Lida Fariman participated in the shooting event with an air rifle, and in subsequent years, they only participated in this single event with a special permit known as the “wild card”. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the number of events in which multiple Iranian female athletes participated increased to three, including rowing, taekwondo, and archery. In the last Olympics held in 2012 in London, for the first time, Iranian women were present without a “wild card” and through a quota, and they participated in several events. (1)

This very poor report card for Iranian women who have extensive social activities is not surprising, as the governing ideologies are fundamentally based on the elimination of women. This is mostly due to global pressures and for the sake of maintaining appearances; otherwise, it is not unexpected in a country where women are even restricted in their education and choice of university majors, to face even more limitations in sports.

Women, due to being left behind in history, must overcome many difficulties in order to have an equal share with men in the field of sports. Women in many Islamic countries, including Iran, face multiple restrictions, one of which is the issue of clothing. The minimum coverage required for sports varies depending on the type of physical activity, but the religious law, which only allows women to show their face and hands up to the wrists and does not accept tight clothing, practically makes it impossible for women to participate in many sports. The compromise solution that has been found is for women to only participate in sports in the presence of other women, which naturally prevents them from competing in international competitions and only allows for local or at most, national level competitions. The first harm of this is that it deprives women of benefiting from the experiences of men.

During the period known as the “Development Era”, in 1369 (1990-1991), Ms. Faizah Hashemi, the daughter of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was the vice president of the National Olympic Committee in Iran, established the Council of Solidarity for Women’s Sports (Islamic Federation of Women’s Sports) with the approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president.

Antonio Samaran’s house.

The President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Mr. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, formed it. (2) This international agreement was not only to support women’s sports in Iran, but also to cover up the double oppression that was being imposed on Iranian women. In reality, these competitions only served as a cover-up and did not have much of a role in promoting women’s sports in Iran. They were only held with large budgets and advertisements to justify this injustice and attack on women’s rights as a “cultural difference” for a few periods.

Another challenge that Iranian women face in the field of sports is that they are not allowed to attend stadiums where men’s competitions are held, which not only harms women’s sports but also men’s sports; because men also lose half of their potential fans.1379874_841635322554172_4334318883145745621_n

Women interested in attending stadiums have used various methods, such as dressing in men’s clothing, to gain access in the past years. This issue led to the arrest and harassment of women and became the subject of Jafar Panahi’s film “Offside” in 2005. Unfortunately, this film was not allowed to be shown and was denied the opportunity to compete in the 2007 Oscars. Since 2004, women’s rights activists have made continuous efforts to organize and attend stadiums, and the “Offside” campaign has been established.

Defending the right of women to enter stadiums.

“And the “White Scarves” were able to hold various gatherings and by going to the entrance of stadiums, they attempted to enter the stadiums, which always resulted in beatings, violence, and detentions of the participants. In the latest incident of these actions, with the call of the White Scarves Headquarters on June 20, 2014, a group of women’s rights activists went to Azadi Stadium to watch the Iran-Italy volleyball game, which led to the arrest of some of them, all of whom were eventually released. However, a few days later, Ghoncheh Ghavami, who holds dual Iranian-British citizenship, was imprisoned. (3).”

Iranian government officials, including Javad Larijani, intended to justify the issue again with explanations such as “cultural differences”. Fortunately, this time the world did not fall for such baseless statements, which aimed to hold international volleyball competitions in Iran without the presence of women. This injustice was not covered up and, thanks to the sacrifice of women who went to the stadium and were prevented from attending, Mrs. Ghoncheh Ghavami was arrested and imprisoned. This drew attention to women’s sports in Iran and caused international reactions. With the approval of the Italian Volleyball Federation, in all Super League volleyball games in this country, two teams entered the field with the slogan “Free Ghoncheh Ghavami” and this slogan was displayed on advertising spaces around the stadiums and was broadcasted on live television, raising global awareness about this issue.

Although the World Volleyball Federation has emphasized that it has no intention of interfering in the laws and culture of a country, it considered it necessary to pay “special attention” to the issue of banning women from entering stadiums. Finally, the spokesperson of the World Volleyball Federation said in an interview with a French news agency: “As long as women are not allowed to enter stadiums, Iran will not have the right to host competitions under the direct supervision of the World Volleyball Federation, such as the World Championships, especially youth and junior competitions.” (4).

In any case, the bud of resistance is still in prison, but Rabab Shahryari, the deputy of women’s sports at the Ministry of Sports and Youth, has announced that in order to not lose the opportunity to host the World Youth Volleyball Championships, parts of the stadium will be allocated to women. It is clear that this is a tactical retreat, which will most likely only serve to cover up the realities of women’s sports in Iran by giving tickets to certain individuals.

Recent experience has shown that if Iranian women stand up for their rights and if international pressures are put on the Iranian government, they are forced to retreat; although with the existing anti-women mindset, it is unlikely that any reform will lead to a desirable and acceptable situation for women’s sports in Iran.

Mustafa Azizi.

Producer and director.

Resources.

1- .

Iranian Women in the Olympics; From the Past to Today.

“Family and Women’s News Analysis Center, August 22, 2012.”

2- Website of the Federation of Women’s Games of Islamic Countries.

3- Request from Amnesty International for the release of Ghoncheh Ghavami, September 20, 2014.

4) The World Volleyball Federation; Iran has never been introduced as the host of the World Youth Championships, Persian Baby.

5) Interview with Rabab Shahriyan, ISNA News Agency, November 21, 2014.

Created By: Mustafa Azizi
November 24, 2014

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