Iran’s football authorities have announced a major breakthrough for women’s rights, declaring that female spectators will be allowed to attend top league matches in stadiums. Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, women have largely been banned from entering stadiums to watch football and other sporting events, even though there is no specific law prohibiting their presence. During the drawing ceremony for Iran’s upcoming top-level football season, Mehdi Taj, the chief of Iran’s Football Federation, highlighted the inclusion of women in stadiums as a prominent feature for this year’s league. While certain stadiums in Isfahan, Kerman, and Ahvaz are prepared to host women, the capital Tehran has not yet been included. This development follows previous instances where women were permitted to attend select matches, such as when Esteghlal played against Mes Kerman in August, and during Iran’s World Cup 2022 Qualifier match against Cambodia in 2019, where around 4,000 women were in attendance. Pressure to lift the ban on women attending matches intensified after the tragic death of Sahar Khodayari, a football fan who set herself on fire in 2019 out of fear of being imprisoned for disguising herself as a man to attend a match. Khodayari became a symbol of the movement advocating for women’s access to stadiums. After years of struggle, it appears that Iranian women may finally have the opportunity to enjoy football matches in the stadiums.