Allowing women into the football stadium; “A cynical public stunt”
Allowing women into the football stadium; “A cynical public stunt” Written by Mahmoud Hakamian on 10 October 2019 . The heartbreaking death of Sahar Khodayari dubbed as Blue Girl, who self-immolated after facing a six-month jail term for attending a soccer match, was the latest incident highlighting the tragic plight of Iranian women in Iran under the rule of the misogynous theocracy. Sahar’s death created a firestorm, compelling the mullahs to temporarily backtrack. Facing tremendous outside pressure, even being thrown out of FIFA, the Iranian regime finally caved in and allowed a limited number of women into Tehran’s Azadi Stadium to watch the match between Iran and Cambodia. Fearful of the consequences of women’s presence in the stadium, however, officials limited the number of tickets sold to women. Only four sections of the stadium, totaling around 3,500 seats, were allocated to women. Azadi Stadium has a capacity of around 78,000 sea...