“Good Iranian Women Don’t Watch Sports”

Following the announcement that the ban against women in stadiums would stay in tact, two Friday imams have called for Iranians to pursue  “religious and revolutionary values” in their daily lives.

“The idea of letting women to go to sport stadiums to watch matches has many immoral and negative social consequences,” said Hassan Mosleh during his sermon in Borazjan, Bushehr province, on Friday, 17 April.

Another Friday Imam echoed Mosleh’s comments, saying most Iranian women were not interested in such immoral behavior. “Those who support this idea have unfortunately lost the right and straight path,” said Ali Rahdoust, Friday imam in Delvar, in the southern part of the province. “They imagine that the dignity and virtuosity of our girls and women is about going to sport stadiums, while the majority of our women are chaste and noble and are repulsed by such conduct.”

“Men and women sitting next to each other to watch matches will destroy religious and revolutionary values,” Mosleh said, as reported by Persian Gulf Website.

At the beginning of April, the Director of Information and International Affairs at the Ministry of Interior contradicted earlier statements by the Minister of Sport, who had said the government was reviewing the law prohibiting women from watching sports in stadiums. Abdolhamid Ahmadi had said that changes were likely to be implemented.

The issue has been widely covered in the Iranian and international media, with particular attention being paid to the case of Ghoncheh Ghavami, who was jailed for five months for trying to attend a volleyball match in Tehran.

Rahdoust said those calling for women to be allowed to watch sport in stadiums should shift their focus. “It is better for those who support such ideas to defend the less problematic idea of women getting into universities and prepare the grounds for them to achieve higher scientific qualifications,” he said. “It’s better to be worried and concerned about women’s unemployment or the increasing rate of divorce in society.”