Iran’s World Cup qualifier against Cambodia on Thursday will be a landmark moment for the country, as women will be able to officially enter a football stadium for the first time in decades.
The initial allocation of 3,500 tickets for female fans was quickly sold out — reportedly in under an hour — before an additional 1,100 were released for the match at the national Azadi Stadium.
“This is a hugely historic moment for Iranian football, but also for the Iranian women who have protested in the face of [the risk of] being caught and almost certainly sent to Evin Prison, the famous prison for political prisoners in Tehran,” football author and writer James Montague told CNN.
