December 21, 2018
The human rights advisory panel of FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, has urged FIFA to give Iran a fixed deadline for allowing women to watch soccer matches in its stadiums.
The implication is that, if Iran does not comply, it would be booted out of international competitions like the World Cup and the Asian Cup.
In a report published November 26, the panel said Iran’s ban on women fans violated FIFA’s own ethics code, which “specifically prohibits discrimination, including on the basis of gender.”
Iranian women and girls have not been allowed to attend soccer matches since the revolution. It is a ban imposed by the conservative clergy, which argues mainly that women must be protected from the obscene language that many male fans shout at soccer matches.
Last month, several hundred invited women were allowed to attend the Asian Champions League final between home side Persepolis and Japan’s Kashima Antlers at Tehran’s Azadi stadium. No tickets were sold. The invitees were understood to be relatives of players, staff of the Iranian Football Federation and women players in the official league.
FIFA’s panel, made up of eight people from the United Nations, trade unions and FIFA sponsors, also noted that women were able to attend televised screenings at the same venue of two of Iran’s three matches during the World Cup in Russia last summer.
It described this as a “positive” development but added that “these ad hoc decisions are obviously not the same as a formal end to the ban.”
The panel said, “FIFA should be explicit about the timeframe in which it expects [Iran] to align with FIFA’s human rights expectations.”
It said FIFA should also be clear about possible sanctions should Iran not fall into line.
FIFA statutes say that discrimination can be punishable by “suspension or expulsion,” although its disciplinary code allows for lighter sanctions such as fines and partial stadium closures.