"LET IRANIAN WOMEN ENTER THEIR STADIUMS"

By Where Is Football

June 16^th, 2018

Football’s most important victories do not come with three points.

They stem not from intricate patterns of play, or saves that seem to defy natural laws, or free kicks that swerve and dip to find the net.

Rather, football's greatest victories occur off the pitch.

In this same spirit, long before a stoppage-time winner gave Iran a 1-0 result over Morocco in their 2018 World Cup opener, a far more important battle for the country had already been won in the stadium.

Unlike in the arenas of Tehran or Isfahan or Mashhad, this energetic crowd of 62,000-plus in Saint Petersburg’s futuristic football stadium included Iranian women.

Banned from the terraces in their home country, many of them were in Russia not only for their first World Cup match, but their first official football match, period. For many, a lifelong devotion to the beautiful game and Team Melli—as their national team is fondly known—has been lived solely through television screens and newspapers. But not on Friday.

Here are some of their stories.

NAZANIN, 30—TEHRAN, IRAN

“I’m a professional basketball player, so I have a lot of experiences playing in an arena, but many Iranian women do not. For some, this was their first time. This is my second World Cup; I went to Brazil four years ago, but it was much harder for people to get there, with tickets being so expensive. This was much different. This was the most awesome experience. Awesome.”

"LET IRANIAN WOMEN ENTER THEIR STADIUMS"

FERESHTEH, 27—KAZAN, RUSSIA VIA TEHRAN

“This was my second match seeing Iran play live. I study in Kazan so I was able to see them play Russia once before. But this was the first time in a World Cup. It is incredible to see a match in the World Cup for your country."

AVDA, 28—COLOGNE, GERMANY

“I am from Cologne, Germany, but we are Iranian. I took my father for his 60th birthday to the World Cup. It was great to be with him and to see other Iranian women in the stadium. I didn’t think we would win today, so this is amazing.”

MARAL, 34 & SOMAYEH, 37 — TEHRAN

“This was my first time ever in the stadium to watch Iran play. It was a very special experience. I couldn’t imagine. I couldn't imagine." -Somayeh

KATIE* — TEHRAN

“It is great to be in the stadium. This is my first time and it is so exciting. I am here with ten people—men and women. We work together in the food industry and we decided to come all together.”

MARIAM, 50 & ZAHRA, 24

"I think it is an experience that maybe only happens once in your life. There were so many other women. It was incredible.” -Zahra

FARANAK — VANCOUVER, CANADA VIA TEHRAN

“I came from Vancouver to be here for this. It was so amazing.”

This sport is far from perfect. And the World Cup, for all its symbolic beauty and promise, is often not only a reminder, but an enabler, of the cruelty, oppression, prejudice, and cowardice of our world.

But for 90 minutes on Friday, the World Cup provided a platform and an opportunity. As the world looked on, Iran were roared to victory—one of the biggest sporting triumphs in the nation’s history—by women proudly representing their country, chanting with full hearts, and fearlessly protesting for the same rights that men in their country enjoy.