This archive report was first published on 11 September 2019.
September 11, 2019, marked a tragic day for Iranian football fan Sahar Khodayari, who died in hospital after setting herself on fire in protest of being denied entry to a men's football match in Tehran.
Khodayari, 30, disguised herself in a long overcoat and with blue facepaint to attend the Esteghlal match at the Azadi Stadium, where women are prohibited from watching men's football games.
She spent three days in custody before being released pending a verdict on her case, only to return to the police station and douse herself in petrol, causing burns on 90% of her body.
Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East Research and Advocacy Director, condemned the incident, stating, 'What happened to Sahar Khodayari is heartbreaking. Her only 'crime' was being a woman in a country where women face discrimination that is entrenched in law and plays out in the most horrific ways imaginable in every area of their lives, even sports.'
Iran has banned female spectators from football and other stadiums since 1981, with the ban not written into law or regulation but ruthlessly enforced by the country's authorities.
Human Rights Watch reports that prior to the Islamic revolution of 1979, women were allowed to attend sporting events, and the stadium ban is against regulations set by the International Football Federation FIFA.
