Iranian women don fake beards to defy football stadium ban

Five Iranian women have sparked an online storm after disguising themselves as men so that they could sneak into a football match, in defiance of Islamic law.

The group wore fake beards, wigs and men’s clothing in order to bypass security at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Friday. The ploy meant the women were able to see their team, Persepolis, crowned champions of the Persian Gulf Pro League for the second consecutive season.

Women have been banned from attending all-male sporting events in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, with authorities arguing that women must be “protected from the vulgar atmosphere”, reports the Daily Mail.

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However, the law has recently come under scrutiny following the decision of the ultra-conservative government in neighbouring Saudi Arabia to lift its own ban on mixed crowds.

That scrutiny has grown after photos were posted online of the female Persepolis fans draped in their team’s red flag and holding up six fingers to the camera. The gesture “is popular among Persepolis fans and urges the club to match one of its most celebrated results, a 6-0 thrashing of local rivals Esteghlal in 2010”, says The Times.

The photos have subsequently “gone viral and have been seen by millions of people around the world”, The Sun reports.

In March, Iranian police detained 35 women as they tried to enter Azadi Stadium to attend a match between Tehran rivals Persepolis and Esteghlal, a game that was attended by Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

According to Human Rights Watch, when questioned about the unrest, Infantino said that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had promised him there were plans to allow women to attend football matches in the country in the near future. The rights organisation argues that Infantino “could and should have conditioned his attendance at the soccer match on women being allowed into the stadium”.