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Iran is divided over the issue of whether women should be allowed to attend soccer matches. At least six senior ayatollahs, including some of Iran's most senior clerics, have issued rulings condemning a decision by President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad to allow women to sit in the stands. A ban has been in place since the 1979 Islamic revolution, but it has come under pressure with the growth of soccer fever after Iran's qualifications for this summer's World Cup in Germany. Soccer is Iran's national game and attracts big crowds to its top league matches.
The move by the president has confused both fundamentalists and reformists who regard him as socially conservative. The president instructed sporting authorities to build special areas in stadiums for women and families. Some supporters of the decision have argued that the presence of women could calm boisterous all-male crowds. But the reform has met strong opposition from the religious establishment. Grand Ayatollah Fazel Lankarani ruled that it was forbidden for women 'to see men's bodies even if not to gain pleasure' and suggested separate grounds for women to watch women's soccer.'
A good example of the tensions surrounding this subject is shown in the Iranian film 'Offside', which is based on an actual incident involving the daughter of its director, Jafar Panahi. This funny and clever film follows six girls, disguised as men, who are refused entry into a 2005 match between Iran and Bahrain that will decide whether or not Iran goes to the World Cup. The girls try to sneak into the Azadi Stadium in Tehran but are arrested and placed in a holding area outside of the stadium where they are guarded by three young army conscripts. While the match continues the girls pester the soldiers about the rationale behind the restrictions and persuade one of the soldiers to provide a running commentary on the game. Little by little the two groups unite, girls and soldiers, as they root for their country to win.
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