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Eugene

(62,734 posts)
Wed Sep 11, 2019, 04:24 PM Sep 2019

FIFA officials to visit Iran after death of 'Blue Girl'

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 / 2:39 PM / UPDATED 32 MINUTES AGO

Exclusive: FIFA officials to visit Iran after death of 'Blue Girl'

Simon Evans
6 MIN READ

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - FIFA officials will visit Iran, following the death of a female fan who set herself on fire in protest at her arrest for attending a match, world soccer’s governing body told Reuters on Wednesday.

Sahar Khodayari, dubbed “Blue Girl” due to her favorite team Esteghlal’s colors, died in hospital on Monday after her self-immolation outside a court where she feared being jailed for six months having attended the match in disguise as a man.

While foreign women have been allowed limited access to matches, Iranian women have been banned from stadiums when men’s teams have been playing since just after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

A FIFA spokesman said that meetings with Iranian soccer officials, expected inside the next two weeks, were part of preparations for Iran’s World Cup qualifying games — they face Cambodia at home on Oct. 10 — and were not a specific response to Khodayari’s death.

The FIFA officials, however, will check the preparations made by the Iranian FA to provide access to that Oct. 10 match for women.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-soccer-woman-exclusive/exclusive-fifa-officials-to-visit-iran-after-death-of-blue-girl-idUSKCN1VW2IB
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FIFA officials to visit Iran after death of 'Blue Girl' (Original Post) Eugene Sep 2019 OP
Bar Iranian teams from playing until they change their misogynistic policy Jake Stern Sep 2019 #1
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