FIFA Informed That Women 'Will Be Allowed to Enter Stadiums' in Iran
FIFA have received assurances that Iranian women will be permitted to attend football matches in the future, following the recent tragic death of a female fan earlier in September.
Iranian women have been banned from attending games contested between men since the Islamic revolution in 1979, and this law has stood ever since.
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Following growing concerns over women's rights within the footballing community, BBC News reports that FIFA President Gianni Infantino spoke to the Iranian authorities, who assured the Italian that women will be allowed to watch men's football in the near future.
"We need to have women attending," Mr Infantino explained during a FIFA conference on women in football.
"We have been assured that as of the next international game of Iran... women will be allowed to enter football stadiums.
"This is something very important - in 40 years this has not happened, with a couple of exceptions."
The stadium ban had originally been lifted last year, permitting women to watch Iran take part in the men's 2018 World Cup, but the law has since been put back in place.
Iranian football hit the news earlier this month when a female supporter died following her rejection from a stadium.
Sahar Khodayari, known as the 'blue girl' in association with her favourite team Esteqlal's colours, was arrested for her attempts to attend a football game and later set herself on fire outside the court.
Her story caught the world's attention and highlighted the lack of equality in Iran's laws between men and women. In response to the awful news, many professional female footballers have been wearing blue armbands in the girl's memory.
