Guardian:

The World Cup in Russia has provided a chance for a few of Iran’s female football fans to do what hardline religious authorities at home have not permitted them to do since the 1979 revolution, and has also led to female fans back in Tehran being allowed to watch a live transmission of the team’s second game against Spain, suggesting that the ban on female attendance may soon be lifted.

However, two fans who are in Russia running a campaign to have women allowed into stadiums back home say they were targeted and harassed by Russian authorities before Iran’s match with Spain last week.

For Sara, who travelled to the tournament from Iran and is using an assumed name to avoid identification by Iranian authorities, her country’s opening match against Morocco in St Petersburg was the first time she had been to a football game. “I’ve watched lots on television but this was so different; I felt like I had stepped into the television set and everything had become 3D,” she said. “I didn’t really know how to cheer, because I’ve never been inside a stadium."

Sara is one of the founders of the Open Stadiums movement, which campaigns for women to be allowed in to watch games. She has been battling on the issue since 2005. The experience of finally making it to an Iran game was a happy one, especially given their 1-0 win over Morocco, albeit with a late own goal, but she also said she felt sad at the symbolism of the occasion. “It was our dream for years, and it turns out it’s just such a simple thing to have a stadium packed with happy people.”

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