For the last 38 years, it has been illegal for women to attend football matches in Iran, according to Marissa Payne of the WASHINGTON POST. Two of the country's most prominent names in the sport said that it is "time to change that." Former Bayern Munich player Ali Karimi said, "This is the demand of millions upon millions of female fans who'd like to watch soccer matches and other events up close. This important issue is not impossible, this dream of female sports fans can be achieved through correct planning." Karimi's comments follow those made late last month by current Iranian national team player Masoud Shojaei, who in a video shared by Radio Farda and other sites "insinuated that women being allowed in stadiums would benefit the sport." Karimi said, "I think if [the ban is lifted] we would have to build a stadium that could hold 200,000 spectators, because we see the flood of passion from our ladies." The ban was imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is "based on a religious idea of keeping male and female crowds apart." The ban was previously applied to all sports, but in '15, the Iranian government "made a small exception to the law that allowed a limited number of women to attend men's volleyball matches" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/11).
