DHAKA: A limited number of Iranian women will be allowed to watch Volleyball World League games in Tehran later this month, a senior government official has told the media, part of a government move to allow women and families to attend male sporting events.

Iran vice-president for Women and Family Affairs Shahindokht Molaverdi, part of the Cabinet of moderate President Hassan Rouhani, said the government hopes to avoid a showdown with hardliners over the issue, reports hurriyetdailynews.com.

However, the issue already has garnered worldwide attention on Iran with the detention of a British-Iranian woman trying to attend a men’s match last year.

Molaverdi, a reformist politician and women’s rights activist, said women will be allowed into stadiums to watch men’s matches in specific sports such as volleyball, basketball, handball and tennis. However, she said women still won’t be allowed into football, swimming and wrestling matches.

‘I guess a limited number of women, mainly families of national team players, will watch the (coming) volleyball games. If it practically happens a few times, the concerns will be completely removed and it will be proven that allowing women to watch men’s sports matches is not problematic,’ she told the media.

‘Necessary measures need to be taken in order not to spread concern. This is an issue that can be easily managed so that it would not turn into a predicament.’

Women generally have been banned from games since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, though foreign women can attend matches of their national teams.

Senior clerics have opposed women attending sporting events because male athletes often wearing revealing clothing, and the fans in the crowd sometimes shout obscene chants.

BDST: 1633 HRS, JUN 10, 2015
RR