Last Updated: December 15, 2023, 14:45 IST
Gianni Infantino stated he can be travelling to Iran within the close to future. (AFP Photo)
Women’s rights campaigners Open Stadiums and one other group of former Iranian athletes final yr referred to as on FIFA to ban Iran from the World Cup as a result of of the continued exclusion of ladies from soccer matches.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino believes the worldwide governing physique’s coverage of engagement with Iran over the remedy of ladies in soccer is bearing fruit after some had been allowed into the Tehran derby on Thursday.
Women’s rights campaigners Open Stadiums and one other group of former Iranian athletes final yr referred to as on FIFA to ban Iran from the World Cup as a result of of the continued exclusion of ladies from soccer matches.
Infantino has as an alternative favoured a coverage of private engagement with the Islamic republic and welcomed the information that ladies had been allowed into Thursday’s Iran Pro League match as an indication of its success.
”In September, I had the pleasure of assembly Iran President Ebrahim Raisi in New York City, the place we mentioned the event of ladies’s soccer within the nation and progress made concerning the presence of ladies in soccer stadiums,” he stated in an announcement launched on social media.
”It was, due to this fact, with nice delight that I realized round 3,000 ladies attended the Tehran derby between Persepolis FC and Esteghlal FC at this time.
”Thanks to the continued dialogue between FIFA and the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation, progress is being made.”
Under strain from Infantino, a small group of feminine followers had been granted entry to Persepolis’s house leg of the 2018 Asian Champions League ultimate in Tehran.
There has been minimal progress since, with feminine followers barred from coming into Iran’s World Cup qualifying recreation in opposition to Lebanon in Mashhad in March 2022, after which video emerged of feminine supporters being pepper-sprayed outdoors the stadium.
The calls to ban Iran from the World Cup got here in opposition to the backdrop of mass protests throughout the nation within the wake of the loss of life of Mahsa Amini whereas she was within the custody of the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic gown code.
Infantino stated he can be travelling to Iran within the close to future and would once more meet President Raisi ”to additional talk about soccer-associated issues”.
”Iran is a major drive in Asian soccer and it’s important that we proceed to nurture the constructive and fruitful working relationship now we have constructed,” the Swiss added.
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Reuters)
