The issue of women’s presence in stadiums has become a complicated problem; some consider the “inappropriate atmosphere” of stadiums as the reason for women’s absence, while others believe that women, like men, have the right to attend. On the other hand, a security perspective is also emerging on this issue.

Recently, in an effort to prevent women from entering the 12,000-seat Azadi Stadium to watch the games of the Iranian national volleyball team in the World League, the issue of women’s presence in stadiums has once again been raised in public and in the media.

Iranian women are not allowed to attend stadiums while international competitions are being held in Iran, while women from other countries are allowed to enter. According to international laws, preventing women from entering stadiums is prohibited.

With the issue of banning women from entering stadiums for sports competitions, the situation in Saudi Arabia and the issue of women driving in this country is unconsciously brought to mind. It is a simple issue that is considered normal and common in the rest of the world, but in Saudi Arabia it has become a security problem.

The prohibition of women entering stadiums has both supporters and opponents, each defending their stance based on their own reasoning.

Fakhralsadat Mohtashami Pour is a reformist political activist and a women’s rights advocate, including being a supporter of women’s presence in sports stadiums. In an interview with IRNA news agency, she says, “Not only am I not against women entering stadiums and any other public place, but I consider it a natural right for women.” Mohtashami Pour goes on to say that she has not seen any logical or reasonable arguments from opponents of this issue, and adds, “I am sorry that such flawed trends continue and make a simple and easy issue so complicated and difficult, making our country a laughingstock among the world.”

Mohammad Amin Ghanearad, the president of the Iranian Sociological Association and a member of the faculty at the National Center for Scientific Research, also defends the presence of women in stadiums. In an interview with IRNA, he says, “Unfortunately, there has never been any attention given to the positive aspects and impact that women’s presence can have in stadiums. The women who attend these events are the current and future mothers of our country. Without a doubt, their presence in this field can be effective in transferring the culture of sports and friendship to their children and family members.”

Ghanai-Raad continues: “We have always complained about why our children and teenagers do not pay enough attention to sports, which is capable of promoting physical and mental health and reducing social harms. The prerequisite for achieving such goals is for parents to have a certain level of sports literacy. This sports literacy can be transferred to children through being a sports person and being a sports enthusiast, and one of the best ways to strengthen and transfer it is by attending sports stadiums. Sports has the ability to produce good athletes from the hearts of good spectators.”

This sociologist also responds to individuals who view the presence of women in sports stadiums, such as football, as inappropriate, saying: “The reality is that the presence of women and promoting a family-friendly environment can help combat hooliganism and vulgarity in these places.”

On the other hand, opponents also express their opinions. Laleh Eftakhari, a representative of the conservative parliament, although she is a woman herself, is against the presence of women in stadiums. She says, “I do not consider the presence of women in sports stadiums, or even discussing this issue, necessary. In my opinion, this is not an important issue. We have much more important issues that need to be addressed and focused on. When we focus on details, we lose sight of the bigger picture. It is necessary for us to direct our energy towards more vital and important issues.”

Pride, in describing these important issues, refers to topics such as Article 227 of the Fifth Development Plan on the health and safety of children, Article 230 on women and family, the discussion of insurance for housewives and the emphasis of leadership on recognizing housework as a profession, discussions related to maternity leave for women which the government was supposed to take action on, and so on.

He claims that what is being said is usually far from reality regarding the recent encounter of the police force with women who had come to Azadi 12,000-seat stadium to watch a volleyball match.

On the other hand, Fatemeh Rahbar, another representative of the fundamentalist parliament, considered opposition and agreement with this issue dependent on various factors. In an interview with IRNA, the leader says, “In some of our stadiums, there are special conditions and we are not able to have a uniform opinion about all of them. For example, in football stadiums, due to their size, large crowds, and the dominant masculine atmosphere, shouting slogans and insults that are not appropriate for women to hear, it is not suitable for women to be present in these conditions and I believe that even they themselves avoid being in these places. Of course, in regards to stadiums related to sports such as wrestling, weightlifting, swimming, etc., the presence of women is not right from a religious and customary perspective.”

The leader had a similar opinion to Mohseni Ejei regarding the treatment of women by the police force. He strongly criticized these actions, especially towards journalists, and found it unpleasant.

Of course, all opponents of women’s presence in stadiums do not speak softly. Asghar Nasser Bakht, the political and security deputy of the Tehran governorate, announced that the entry of women into the stadium for international volleyball matches requires the opinion of the country’s Security Council.

A security look in the government that is not even willing to consider women as equal to men in the position of spectators for the national team, and give them the permission and encouragement to attend and support the Iranian national team, is a fundamentalist perspective that believes women only find meaning in the home and therefore they should not even express their emotions to support their national team. It should be asked, is the presence of women in stadiums a security issue that the country’s Security Council and County Security Council should express their opinions about? This is a matter and an event that in all Islamic countries (even in countries with highly traditional and religious people like Yemen) women easily enter stadiums.

From another perspective, the presence of a group of women to support the Iranian national team can be seen as a symbolic movement to demonstrate the identity and desires of women in society. This demand can be considered one of the real desires of women and is a reflection of their civil activities, showing how much resistance women in Iran have to endure even for these small demands. Women’s determination to not be discouraged by standing behind the stadium gates and holding the Iranian flag is a clear representation of their determination to achieve even this seemingly small demand, despite the wrong policies and discriminatory actions of the government against women.

The efforts to lift the ban on women attending sports stadiums have been ongoing for years and various campaigns, sometimes widespread, have been launched in this regard. These include the attempt to enter the Iran-Germany football match in 2004 and the campaign “Defending Women’s Right to Enter Stadiums” with the slogan “Women’s Right, Half of Freedom” (the “White Scarves” campaign). Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has also made the famous film “Offside” on this subject. However, the letter of political and civil activists protesting against the continuation of the ban on women entering stadiums may also be considered as an important reaction from the Iranian intellectual community in this regard.

190 civil and political activists, both inside and outside the country, have requested in a letter to the President of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) to help lift the ban on women’s presence in sports stadiums in Iran. The letter, signed by prominent activists such as Shirin Ebadi, Nasrin Sotoudeh, Parastoo Forouhar, Mohammad Nourizad, Mohammad Maleki, Hashem Tabarzadi, Nazanin Afshin-Jam, and others, states: “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s prohibition on women entering stadiums to watch football matches, which has been in place since 1982, has led us to turn to you as the highest authority of FIFA to seek your help in lifting this unjust ban.”

The request of the signatories of this letter is that “according to Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes, the membership of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran be suspended or at least, similar to the appropriate action taken by the International Volleyball Federation in 2014, Iran be deprived of hosting international competitions under the supervision of FIFA and prevent any organized sports programs through FIFA in Iran until the Iranian government puts an end to this gender discrimination against women.”

Darya Safaei, the founder of this campaign, who had previously launched a campaign to promote women’s presence in volleyball stadiums, announces that the number of signatures is increasing. She says, “She knows that FIFA will not easily react, but with follow-up and information, we can provoke a reaction from them.” According to Safaei, some activists of this campaign will be present on March 31 at a stadium where a friendly match between Iran and Sweden will be held.

This letter also sparked reactions at the global level. Sepp Blatter wrote in an article in FIFA magazine, referring to his trip to Iran in 2013: “The passion and enthusiasm of the people for football was not the only thing I encountered, but there are also laws in this country that prohibit women from entering stadiums.” The president of FIFA added that during his meeting with Hassan Rouhani, the President of the Islamic Republic, he discussed this issue with him and asked him to change this unacceptable situation as soon as possible.

Amineh Kakabaveh, a representative of the Left Party in the Swedish Parliament, in an article published in Aftonbladet newspaper, called on the president of the Swedish Football Federation to cancel the football match between the national teams of Iran and Sweden, citing violations of human rights, particularly women’s rights, by the Iranian government.

It seems that the pressure to ban women from attending sports stadiums is only a blow to Iran’s sports reputation, a blow that in the long run can deeply crisis Iran’s sports.

Sources:

1- IRNA Research Center

2- Feminist School

Iranian women come together in solidarity to protest and hold onto hope at the Asian Cup, according to The Guardian.

News

“Iran has censored an image of Iranian women at the Asia Cup”, ABC News.