Authorities in Iran banned women from entering most sporting events following the 1979 Islamic Revolution because mixed crowds enjoying games was deemed un-Islamic.
According to CNN,for the past 35 years, the crowds at football games, Iran’s most popular sport have been all male.Iranian women were briefly allowed to attend volleyball matches during the presidency of moderate Mohammad Khatami but the ban was reinstated in 2005 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power.
In an apparent effort to avoid mixed crowds watching this year’s World Cup, authorities warned restaurants not to broadcast games.The president of the Coffee Shop Owners Union told ISNA news agency that
“we have told our members that during the World Cup games they must either turn the TV off or switch to a channel which is not broadcasting the games.”
