Report: Iran blocked women from attending soccer match
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency says Iran blocked women from attending the country’s last 2022 World Cup soccer qualifying match. ISNA said 12,500 tickets were sold online, of which 2,000 had been reserved for women. Iran defeated Lebanon 2-0 in the match. A victory in January over Iraq assured the team a spot in the World Cup in Qatar. A video circulating on social media shows hundreds of female soccer fans chanting “we have an objection” in response to the decision to ban them from attending the match in the northeastern city of Mashhad. It was not immediately clear who made the decision to block the women from attending.