Iran's women football fans fenced off after decades-long ban lifted

The sister of Iran's national football captain said the lifting of a ban on women in stadiums for Thursday's World Cup qualifier did not go far enough, with many female fans unable to buy tickets even though seats were available.

Maryam Shojaei, who made international headlines when she protested against the ban at last year's World Cup in Russia, said she was angered to see women and men separated by bars in Tehran's 78,000 capacity Azadi Stadium. "This is not what we've fought for," Shojaei tweeted before the match against Cambodia.

Under pressure from world governing body FIFA, Iranian authorities allocated seats to women in four sectors of the stadium for the match against Cambodia - lifting a ban in place for over 40 years. "It's a good thing, but part of me is very angry, especially about the bars between the women and men," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Shojaei said only 3,500 tickets has been allocated for women even though there were many empty seats in the stadium. "This is a direct example of gender discrimination when there are thousands of empty seats and women can't buy tickets. Many women are very angry," she said by phone from Turkey.

Shojaei called on FIFA to ensure that Iran lifts the ban completely and permanently so that women have the same access to tickets as men for all matches countrywide. One of the reasons given for the ban is that it protects women from hearing fans swear, but Shojaei said it was "very embarrassing" and out of step with modern Iran.

"I don't think these bars will protect women from vulgar and coarse words," she added. "It's very odd. Why can we sit next to each other in other public spaces, but not in stadiums? If a guy wants to go to a match with his 10-year-old daughter he can't."

'HATED BAN' FIFA stepped up pressure on Iran following the death of a football fan last month, who set herself on fire to protest against her arrest for trying to get into a match.

Shojaei said the death of Sahar Khodayari - dubbed "Blue Girl" after her team Esteghlal's colours - had changed attitudes among the public, but not officials. The activist said she believed the stadium ban had become symbolic for officials who she thought feared that women would demand more rights if they caved in.

"I think they think that if they give in on this they will have to give in on other things," she added. Human Rights Watch's Minky Worden said the ban was never just about sport.

"The only logic for keeping this hated ban in place for so long is that, if this ban fell, women would insist on other basic rights - and they absolutely should," she added. HRW said women photographers had been banned from covering Thursday's match and that it had lodged a complaint with FIFA.

"Iran is still not playing by the rules," Worden said. "The ban is crumbling, but it's not gone." No one at FIFA was immediately available for comment.

Shojaei's campaign attracted international attention last year when she raised a banner during Iran's World Cup matches with the slogan: "Support Iranian women to attend stadiums #NoBan4Women". On Thursday she said her brother Masoud, who led the national team at the World Cup last year, supported lifting the ban and she believed most other players did too.

"My mother used to go and watch matches all the time when she was young, but she has never seen her son play," she said. "We are very proud of him, but we are not proud of this situation."

Shojaei, who has protested at international matches for five years, launched an online petition ahead of last year's World Cup which she submitted to FIFA in June. "We will keep working on this until the day it is normal for women to watch football just like in other places in the world," she added.