FIFA on September 11 anunced that officials from ir side will visit Iran to have a look at preparations taking place to allow Iranian women to watch a FIFA World Cup qualifying match due in October. According to reports, delegation from FIFA will be comprised of three members. Though exact date of ir visit has t been mentioned, visit is expected to happen sometime before qualifying match in October.  

Fan sets herself ablaze

anuncement comes a week after an Iranian football fan set herself on fire outside a court and died after being told she would be jailed for six months for trying to enter a stadium in Tehran dressed as a man. Sahar Khodayari was arrested after she was caught entering a football stadium in Iran dressed as a man to watch her favorite team play.

This incident led to an outr on social media platforms with many asking federation to ban Iran from any FIFA sanctioned competition and fans to boycott matches to show ir solidarity towards a girl fighting for her rights. Khodayari was also dubbed as "blue girl" because of colors of her favorite football club Esteghal FC.

Infringement of rights

Foreign women have had restricted access to watch football matches in Islamic Republic but Iranian women have been prohibited from watching any football match since Islamic revolution in year 1979 with men from Iran saying that ir women needed to be protected from this manly atmosphere and a view of men playing in shorts. 

Iran received a lot of flak from FIFA for t permitting ir women to watch qualifying matches for 2022 world cup in Qatar and was apparently given an ultimatum to give football federation a time frame that will result in women being able to buy match tickets. t complying will result in Iran facing consequences that will t be pretty for m. 

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With respect to this, Iran's Sports Deputy Minister Jamshid Taghizadeh stated that women will be allowed to go and watch match between Iran and Cambodia at Tehran's Azadi stadium on October 10. 

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 A direct human rights violation

ban on women in stadiums is t written into law or regulations, but is "ruthlessly enforced", said Human Rights Watch, calling it a "clear violation of rules in FIFA".

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(With inputs from PTI)