Rights Group Urged FIFA To Ban Iran From World Cup Over Women's Rights

A rights group that works and campaigns to provide equal access to football in Iran has urged International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to ban Iran from competing in the 2022 Football World Cup. This was in view of the restrictions on entry of women audience in public stadiums and football matches.

A rights group has written an open letter to Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, to ban Iran from contesting in the 2022 World Cup that will be held in Qatar between November 20 to December 18, 2022. The rights group emphasised on the issue of women's rights in Iran and the restriction imposed on the entry of women in stadiums, calling it against the international football rules and asked for immediate ban of the country because of this.

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Open Letter Asks FIFA To Ban Iran From World Cup Over Women's Rights

The open letter reportedly read, "Iranian women trust neither the Islamic Republic's authorities nor the Iranian Football Federation that the Azadi stadium will remain open to them after the Fifa World Cup 2022 concludes on December 18". The letter claimed that women travelling to Qatar for World Cup might face restrictions from the authorities from entering stadiums and the authorities might even spy on them. The open letter also talked about the current protests going on in the country after Mahsa Amini's death in custody of morality police. It claimed that the authorities have strictly banned the football team participating in the World Cup from talking over the topic.

Iran is a country which follows rules and regulations according to the Shia Muslim regime. The country has put heavy restrictions on women for accessing various services and facilities. One of this is the access to sports to Iran's female audience to men's team matches. Women have never been allowed to watch a football match in the stadiums in Iran. Recently, Iranian women were allowed to watch a domestic match in a stadium in August for the first time ever since 1979. However, the rights group allegedly claims that it is still uncertain that the stadium will allow entry of women during World Cup matches.

FIFA had previously claimed that it will not turn a blind eye towards the women's rights issue in Iran. The authorities allowed women to watch football match in stadium in August allegedly because FIFA sent a letter to them to allow more women in stadiums. The international football organisation has not responded to the open letter yet.