FIFA President Gianni Infantino calls women attending a Hazfi Cup match in Iran an encouraging development for football accessibility.
MASHHAD: FIFA President Gianni Infantino has welcomed the attendance of women and girls at a Hazfi Cup soccer match in the Iranian city of Mashhad as an encouraging development.
Female fans have faced a near-total ban from sports events in Iran since the 1979 revolution, prompting past calls for the men’s team to be excluded from the 2022 World Cup.
Infantino has pursued a policy of personal engagement with Iranian leadership and hailed the access to the Imam Reza Stadium for some women as another step forward.
He expressed his pleasure at learning about the female attendance at the match between Nassaji Mazandaran and Shahid Ghandi Yazd in a social media post.
Infantino noted this development follows last December’s top-flight match in Isfahan with 45,000 women and the 2023 Tehran Derby with 3,000 female attendees.
Women’s rights group Open Stadiums, which advocated for Iran’s World Cup exclusion, stated only limited numbers were allowed into Sunday’s lower-league match.
They also highlighted the stadium was the same location where Human Rights Watch reported women were forcibly barred from a 2022 World Cup qualifier.
Last year’s Sepahan versus Persepolis match in Isfahan was played before a crowd composed exclusively of women and girls.
That Iranian Football Federation order to exclude male fans followed insulting chants by a Sepahan cheerleader about female Persepolis fans in May 2024.
Infantino said he hopes to see more progress in opening football matches to everyone in Iran and other regions with access restrictions.
He added that FIFA’s vision is to make football available to everyone worldwide because the game belongs to all who wish to experience it.
Infantino concluded by expressing hope that these developments will continue positively through ongoing dialogue with global authorities.
Iran has already qualified for next year’s World Cup in North America. – Reuters
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