Public prosecutor in Iran slams FIFA demand on women attending men’s matches

FIFA has called on Iran to lift the 40-year ban on females attending games.

Kurdistan 24 2019/09/29 17:08

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A public prosecutor in Iran has criticized a recent demand by FIFA, world football’s governing body, to allow women to attend men’s football matches.

“FIFA’s pressure is another calculated plot by the enemies,” Iranian Prosecutor-General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri was quoted as saying on Saturday by Tasnim news agency.

Montazeri said FIFA had “no legal authority” to tell Tehran how to manage its sports arenas, including allowing women to enter grounds and watch men’s teams play.

During a press conference on Sept. 22, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Iran had “assured” FIFA that it would allow women to enter football stadiums “as of the next international game.”

“We need to have women attending—we need to push for that with respect but in a strong and forceful way, and we cannot wait anymore,” Infantino told reporters.

Iran plays Cambodia on Oct. 10 at home in the second match of its 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

“This is something very important; it is 40 years that this has not happened, with a couple of exceptions, but it is important to move to the next level and to the next stage,” Infantino said.

The FIFA president’s comments came after criticism targeting Tehran following the death of a female football fan who killed herself after she was denied access to watch a men’s football game.

Since 1979, the ultra-conservative Iranian regime has prevented females from attending male football matches.

In October 2018, Tehran said it would reimpose the ban on women attending live football matches prompting FIFA to call on Iran to end the practice or face strict, and more explicit sanctions.