In the words of Minister of Sport Massud Soltanifar, Iranian women will at least be allowed to visit international football matches in the future. "All the necessary preparations have been made so that women, for now but only for international matches, can come to the football stadiums," said the Minister on Thursday.
At the Asadi Stadium in Tehran, where Iran's national team are hosting their World Cup qualifiers, women's separate entrances, an extra tribune and women's toilets have been set up. In addition, special police units will be used to ensure that women get safely in and out of the stadium, Soltanifar said, according to the web portal of the Ministry of Sport.
"Our position is clear and clear: women must be admitted to the football stadiums in Iran," said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He had set a deadline for the Iranian Association to allow women to visit the stadium. Whether or not women are actually allowed into the stadium will be shown against Cambodia at the first home game on 10 October.
Now is "the time to change things," said Infantino. Fifa is expecting a positive development, which should start with the next home game in Iran. Since the equal treatment of men and women in the statutes of the World Football Association is regulated, the Fifa could even exclude Iran in case of violations.
In Iran, women are forbidden to attend football matches in the stadium for four decades. Although Minister Soltanifar and even President Hassan Ruhani are against the ban, both have not yet prevailed against the arch-conservative clergy. Soltanifar hopes that with the reconstruction of the Asadi Stadium and the separate facilities, the clergy will lift the stadium ban on women, at least for international matches.
