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

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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.

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”.