Iranian women were last night (Wednesday) allowed to enter the Azadi Stadium in Tehran for the first time since 1981 to watch the country’s World Cup football match against Spain on giant screens at the venue.
Women have been banned from watching men’s sports in Iran nation since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, with last night’s event serving as a major milestone for the country.
However, the event did not go without incident as around three hours before the game was due to kick off, it was announced the watch party had been cancelled due to “infrastructure difficulties”.
Although the Washington Post newspaper reported that people were asked to stay away from the site, fans still turned up at the Azadi Stadium, leading to a standoff with police that were blocking entrances to the venue.
However, men, women and children who had tickets to watch the game at the venue were eventually granted entry after an hour of waiting.
The situation in Iran was in stark contract to at the actual game in Russia, where women are allowed to attend sports events. Iranian women have travelled to the World Cup in some numbers to see their team in action.
Spain had been expected to come away with a heavy win at the Kazan Arena, but after an impressive Iran performance, Spain was only able to win 1-0 through a Diego Costa strike.
Image: Etereuti
Share this