Iranian women allowed into football stadium for first time in decades

TEHRAN: Iranian women fans are free to enter a football stadium on Thursday for the first time in decades, after FIFA threatened to suspend the Islamic republic over its controversial male-only policy.Iran has barred female spectators from football and other stadiums for around 40 years, with clerics arguing they must be shielded from the masculine atmosphere and sight of semi-clad men.World football´s governing body FIFA last month ordered Iran to allow women access to stadiums without restrictions and in numbers determined by demand for tickets.The directive came after a fan dubbed "Blue Girl" died after setting herself on fire infear of being jailed for dressing up as a boy in order to attend a match. Women were quick to get their hands on tickets to attend Iran´s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Cambodia at Tehran´s Azadi Stadium on Thursday.The first batch sold out in under an hour, and additional seats were also snapped up in short order, state media said. A sports ministry official said the 100,000-capacity stadium -- whose name means "Freedom" in Farsi -- was ready to host even more women.One of the 3,500 women to have secured a ticket was Raha Poorbakhsh, a football journalist. "I still can´t believe this is going to happen because after all these years of working in this field, watching everything on television, now I can experience everything in person," she said.

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