The President of the world football governing body (FIFA) Mr Gianni Infantino in the wake of the ugly (Blue Girl) incident in Iran where a female football fan was denied access into a football stadium, and thereafter setting herself on fire in protest, an incident which she later died from, has called on the Iranian authorities to lift the ban on women entering the stadium to see a football game.
Gianni Infantino who described the ban as “unacceptable” said it must be lifted, and the position of FIFA is “clear and firm” and that women “have to be allowed” into football stadiums in the country.
The incident which was dubbed the Blue Girl on a social media trend, after the colors of the victim identified as Khodayari, tried to go see her favourite Iranian football team, Esteghlal but was denied access into the stadium and thereafter charged with “openly committing a sinful act” by “appearing in public without a hijab” when she attempted to enter the stadium “dressed as a man” in March, according to human rights group Amnesty International.
Khodayari appeared in a Tehran court earlier this month. When the case was adjourned, she poured gasoline over herself and set herself on fire. She died on Monday, September 9.
Iran’s Judiciary has been asked to investigate the circumstances surrounding Khodayari’s death, the country’s semi-official Fars News agency reported last week.
The news agency also said her father had claimed that Khodayari suffered from mental illness and had “stopped treatment against her doctor’s repeated warnings.”
Her death sparked anger both in Iran and across the world.
Iran’s ban on women attending sports stadiums was put in place shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have both called on football’s world governing body FIFA to end the ban.
“I am hopeful that the Iranian Federation and the Iranian authorities were receptive to our repeated calls to address this unacceptable situation,” Infantino said.
“I contacted them several times in the recent past and so has the FIFA administration. We have a delegation of FIFA members in Iran at the moment and I am looking forward to hearing good news from them.
“We understand there are steps and processes that need to be taken before this is done properly and safely but now is the moment to change things and FIFA is expecting positive developments starting in the next Iran home match in October.“
In June, FIFA sent a letter to the FFIRI, requesting a timeline that would allow women to be able to buy tickets for World Cup qualifiers, Reuters reported.
Iran’s men’s national team takes on Cambodia in a World Cup qualifying game on October 10, and FIFA is hoping that ban would have been lifted before the qualifiers.