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Iranian women allowed to attend national team game

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Iranian women cheer during the friendly football match between Iran and Bolivia at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on October 16, 2018. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

For the first time in 40 years women in Iran were allowed to attend a soccer match.

After FIFA demanded that Iran allowed women to watch their games again, tickets were allowed to be bought in a special women-only section in Azadi Stadium for Thursday’s men’s World Cup qualifier with Cambodia.

Iran have made an initial commitment that all home 2022 World Cup qualifiers will have a women-only section. 3,500 tickets were made available for women to buy for this qualifier against Cambodia, as FIFA officials will be observing how they are treated.

The next World Cup qualifier in Iran takes place in Tehran in June 2020

However, Iranian women are still not permitted to attend club matches, and the tragic story and death of the “Blue Girl” Sahar Khodayari shows that the struggle is still very real for women in Iran who simply want to watch the beautiful game in person.

For now, this is a victory for women in Iran and below are videos showing them in the stadium for the qualifier.

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