After decades, Iran women to attend football match freely

Thousands of Iranian women fans are to attend a football match freely today for the first time in decades, after FIFA threatened to suspend the country over its controversial male-only policy. The directive came after a fan dubbed “Blue Girl” died after setting herself on fire in fear of being jailed for dressing up as a boy to attend a match. Women were quick to get their hands on tickets to attend Iran’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against Cambodia at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on Thursday. The first batch sold out in less than an hour, and additional seats were also snapped up in short order, state media said. 3,500 women are expected to attend the match in the ultra-conservative country.