Iranian women at Russian stadiums protest ban on women to attend matches at home

In a special feature today, Al Akhbar newspaper drew attention to the presence of Iranian women at Russian stadiums to watch the FIFA World Cup, pointing to many of them wearing hijab and unfurling banners that protest Iran’s ban on women to attend matches in their country. According to Al Akhbar, the Iranian authorities decided to ban watching the 2018 World Cup in public places. What is odd, the newspaper added, is that in 2005, a partial exception to the ban allowed a group of Iranian women to attend for the first time a football match on a stadium in Central Tehran. They also allowed some 15 women including trainers, arbitrators and a few players to watch the game from seats specially reserved for them but that are separate from men’s seating. Then, Al Akhbar concluded, the so-called reformist circles in Iran advised not to criminalize women for attending matches and to let them in the stadiums with their families. More on the subject on the following link: https://goo.gl/qeNcRC . (Al Akhbar, June 20, 2018)