Iranian women don fake beards to defy football stadium ban
Photos of the five Persepolis fans have gone viral amid calls for Iran to allow mixed crowds
Five Iranian women have sparked an online storm after disguising themselves as men so that they could sneak into a football match, in defiance of Islamic law.
The group wore fake beards, wigs and men’s clothing in order to bypass security at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Friday. The ploy meant the women were able to see their team, Persepolis, crowned champions of the Persian Gulf Pro League for the second consecutive season.
Women have been banned from attending all-male sporting events in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with authorities arguing that women must be “protected from the vulgar atmosphere”, reports the Daily Mail.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, the law has recently come under scrutiny following the decision of the ultra-conservative government in neighbouring Saudi Arabia to lift its own ban on mixed crowds.
That scrutiny has grown after photos were posted online of the female Persepolis fans draped in their team’s red flag and holding up six fingers to the camera. The gesture “is popular among Persepolis fans and urges the club to match one of its most celebrated results, a 6-0 thrashing of local rivals Esteghlal in 2010”, says The Times.
The photos have subsequently “gone viral and have been seen by millions of people around the world”, The Sun reports.
In March, Iranian police detained 35 women as they tried to enter Azadi Stadium to attend a match between Tehran rivals Persepolis and Esteghlal, a game that was attended by Fifa president Gianni Infantino.
According to Human Rights Watch, when questioned about the unrest, Infantino said that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had promised him there were plans to allow women to attend football matches in the country in the near future. The rights organisation argues that Infantino “could and should have conditioned his attendance at the soccer match on women being allowed into the stadium”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Arizona grand jury indicts 18 in Trump fake elector plot
Speed Read The state charged Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies in 2020 election interference case
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Antony Gormley's Time Horizon – a 'judgmental army' of 100 cast-iron men
The Week Recommends Sculptures are 'everymen questioning the privilege of their surroundings' at the Norfolk stately home
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blame
Speed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklace
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodiles
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadium
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish caves
Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performer
It wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
By The Week Staff Published