FIFA president Gianni Infantino has expressed his “deepest gratitude” to Iranian authorities for allowing tens of thousands of female fans to attend this week’s top-flight soccer match between Sepahan and Persepolis.
Infantino personally spoke with the Islamic Republic’s leadership following calls to exclude Iran from the 2022 World Cup due to the continued exclusion of women from soccer matches in the Islamic Republic. We have adopted related policies.
Home team Sepahan won 2-1 in Monday’s professional league match at Isfahan’s Naqsh-e-Jahan Stadium in front of an all-women and girls-only crowd.
The decision came after Sepahan cheerleaders led derogatory chants against Persepolis’ female fans during the clubs’ last match at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium in May.
The Iranian Football Federation fined both clubs and ordered them to play their next two matches in front of only female fans.
In comments posted by FIFA on social media on Thursday, Infantino said around 45,000 women and girls would be allowed to take part in the latest tournament, one of Iran’s most competitive club competitions. He said he was “very satisfied” with that.
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“FIFA has been in constant contact with the Iranian IR authorities in recent years regarding the possibility of women and girls participating in soccer matches,” the Swiss said.
“After last year’s Tehran derby between Persepolis and Esteghlal, which was attended by 3,000 women and girls, this latest development is a great demonstration of how inclusive and open our game is for everyone to enjoy. We would like to express our sincere thanks to everyone involved for making this possible… and the opportunity for even more women and girls to attend football matches regularly in the future. I’m looking forward to it,” he added.
Women’s rights group Open Stadium, which led the campaign to exclude Iran from the World Cup, said female fans had turned the stadium into a “symbol of defiance”.
“Women’s access to stadium capacity remains extremely limited,” the group said in a post on social media after the match.
“Today, as a punishment for male fans, the Iranian Football Association allowed only women to enter, and Sepahan Stadium was nearly full. Iranians are on the road to equal and normal access to stadiums. “Great caution is still needed,” he added.
Infantino said he would continue the engagement strategy during his upcoming visit to Iran.
“Iran is an important force in the Asian football world and it is important that we continue to build on the positive and fruitful cooperation we have built so far, so we look forward to working with Iran in the near future to further discuss football-related issues.” I plan to visit.” .
