Iran’s #BlueGirl dies after setting herself on fire in football-ban protest

[van der star]

The death of a woman who set herself on fire after being arrested for trying to enter an Iranian football stadium has provoked outrage across the country and around the world.

Sahar Khodayari, 30, was known as the “blue girl” for her support of her club, one of Iran’s biggest, Esteghlal Tehran. In March Ms Khodayari dressed in a wig and the team colours to try to watch the club’s Asian Cup game against al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates, a Muslim nation where women can enter stadiums.

But she was detected before she got inside the stadium, and detained for four days at Qarchak prison, known for its severe conditions.

She returned to the courthouse on September 3 to pick up her cellphone, which had been confiscated when she was detained. According to a friend, she was told that a judge had sentenced her to six months of prison.

On her way out of the courthouse in Tehran, Khodayari set herself on fire. She was transferred to Tehran’s Motahhari Hospital with third-degree burns on 90 percent of her body and severe damage to her lungs.

Her death on Monday at 4am sparked widespread outrage on social media. Many footballers, artists, journalists, and even some MPs shared their anger, with some users calling for a ban on Iran’s football federation, and even all Iranian sports federations, until women are allowed to watch men’s matches.

 

[LARulz]

Been a bit surprised this wasn't picked up earlier by the media here - especially The Guardian etc.

Think some big European clubs have said something on social media at least

 

[van der star]

Iran has occasionally allowed small numbers of women into football matches – including a match last year attended by Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino – but rights groups say these instances have been “publicity stunts” and that little is being done to dismantle the unofficial ban.

Infantino gave the Iranian government a deadline of 15 July to lay out what steps were being taken to ensure women could attended qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup that will be held in the country from October.

“Whilst we are aware of the challenges and cultural sensitivities, we simply have to continue making progress here, not only because we owe it to women all over the world, but also because we have a responsibility to do so, under the most basic principles set out in the FIFA Statutes,” Infantino wrote in the letter, obtained by the New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran.

Iran will play its first World Cup qualifier at home at Azadi stadium against Cambodia on 10 October. There has been no announcement about whether women will be permitted to attend, and if not, whether Iran’s football federation will face any sanction.

The former Bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi, who played 127 matches for Iran and has been a vocal advocate of ending the ban on women, urged Iranians in a tweet to boycott soccer stadiums in protest at Khodayari’s death.

The Iranian-Armenian soccer player Andranik “Ando” Teymourian, the first Christian to be the captain of Iran’s national squad and an Esteghlal player, said in a tweet that one of Tehran’s major soccer stadiums would be named after Khodayari “ in the future”.

Masoud Shojaei, the captain of the Iran men's football team, said on Instagram that the ban is "rooted in outdated and cringe-worthy thoughts that will not be understood by future generations".


AS Roma English

@ASRomaEN
https://twitter.com/ASRomaEN/status/1171405632118935554

#ASRoma is yellow & red but today our heart bleeds blue for Sahar Khodayari. The beautiful game is meant to unite us, not divide us – that’s why we set up @ASRoma_Persian last year. Now it’s time for everyone in Iran to be allowed to enjoy football matches together. RIP #BlueGirl

 

[sullydnl]

Christ.

 

[kotha]

The statement from Iran's captain is very powerful.. Hope things change for the better..

 

[jojojo]

I

Been a bit surprised this wasn't picked up earlier by the media here - especially The Guardian etc.

Think some big European clubs have said something on social media at least

It's been covered, mostly since she died though. She's not been the only woman arrested trying to go to matches despite the admission of certain women to international matches (under FIFA pressure).

Doubtless, her death will be discounted by the authorities as a purely individual mental health issue, but the symbolism and horror of self-immolation has captured attention. Whether it can do more than that, I can only hope.

 

[izec]

If they start allowing women entering stadiums, it will show weakness and other agendas from other groups will try to get pushed through. I dont think the Iranian government wants that. They have their ways, changing them will take quite something. Football cant be looked in a vacuum. Football might unite people, but some countries or places dont. That is the world we live in.