Iranian women allowed to attend domestic football match for first time in over 40 years

By Ramin Mostaghim, Adam Pourahmadi and Celine Alkhaldi, CNN

Updated 2112 GMT (0512 HKT) August 26, 2022

Women were granted access into Tehran's Azadi stadium to watch a league match between Tehran-based Esteghlal FC and visiting team Mes Kerman FC.

Tehran (CNN)Hundreds of Iranian women attended a professional domestic football match in Tehran for the first time in over 40 years, following a ban on women attending sports stadiums.

Five hundred women were granted access into Tehran's Azadi stadium to watch a league match between Tehran-based Esteghlal FC and visiting team Sanat Mes Kerman FC, from the city of Kerman, the country's semi-official state news agency Fars said on Thursday.Women were separated from men in the stadium and entered through a special entrance via a car park, according to the Iranian Football Federation website.Iran's ban on women attending sports stadiums is not written into law but was put in place shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.While Thursday was the first time in over 40 years Iranian female soccer fans were allowed to watch a game between local teams, women have been able to attend a small number of the national team's matches.Read MoreFive hundred women were granted access to the match, where they were separated from men and entered the stadium via a separate entrance.This year, Iranian women were allowed to share a landmark moment asIran secured qualification for November's World Cup in Qatar. Three years before that, thousands of women were permitted to attend a World Cup Qualifier game between Iran and Cambodia in 2019, following pressure from human rights groups and the sport's world governing body, FIFA.Thursday marked the first time in over 40 years women were allowed to watch a