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Abbas Milani: "Iranian Women are Suffering from Soccer Gender Apartheid"
Iranian Women Are Suffering from Soccer Gender Apartheid
by Abbas Milani in The Hill
August 20, 2019
"Enlightened citizens, NGOs, international institutions and concerned governments have often sought ways to help the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people without interfering in the country’s domestic affairs.
One obvious and surprisingly long-overlooked answer is soccer. FIFA, the international body that oversees the game around the world, and whose image has been tarnished by reports of corruption, has for four decades ignored the egregious fact that there is soccer gender apartheid in Iran.
Indeed, the situation of Iranian women in soccer is arguably worse than the position of blacks under Apartheid. Blacks in South Africa could attend games, albeit in shamefully segregated sections of stadiums."