Oct. 10 was a landmark night for the disparate nations of Cambodia and Iran. Facing off in Tehran for their World Cup 2022 qualifier, Iran inflicted the Cambodian national team’s heaviest ever defeat with 14-0.
But despite the game being a foregone conclusion, it was covered by major news outlets worldwide because present in the Azadi Stadium were 3,500 Iranian women who could freely attend a football match for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Journalists and activists seized the opportunity to use the game to discuss the wider status of women in the Islamic republic, with events off the field vastly overshadowing those on it.
In full: https://opinion.inquirer.net/124988/a-football-match-and-cambodias-women
