Iran’s ‘Blue Girl’ Dies for Watching Soccer, Blacklash Explodes

Sahar Khodayari loved watching soccer, and ended up paying for it with her life.

In Iran, entering sports arenas is a jailable offense for women. Rather than face the prospect of months in prison for having dared to assert such a small right, Khodayari set herself on fire.

There’s been an outpouring of grief and outrage on social media over the grisly death of this woman in her 20s who’s come to be known as the “blue girl,” a reference to the colors of Esteghlal F.C., the club she went to cheer in the capital, Tehran.

A photo purportedly showing her prone on a hospital bed, her wounds tightly bound in head-to-foot bandages like a mummy, has been widely shared on Instagram and Twitter. Kodayari, which is not her real name, media have reported, apparently slipped into the match covered up, a photo circulated on Twitter has suggested.

The incident has revived calls in some quarters to end the state’s restrictive policies toward women. Some of Iran’s most popular soccer players have called for a boycott of stadiums, and FIFA, the world soccer organization, demanded protection for women fighting to lift the stadium ban.

“She wasn’t just the ‘blue girl’. Sahar was the ‘Iran girl,’ where men decide the fate of women and can deprive them of their most basic human rights, and where there are women who are anti-women and who assist them in this blatant cruelty,” reformist lawmaker Parvaneh Salahshouri tweeted on Tuesday. “We are all responsible for the jailing and the self-immolation of all of the Sahars of this country.”

Soccer Ball Heart

Ali Karimi, a retired soccer player with 4.5 million followers on Instagram, shared a widely circulated meme of a female silhouette, her arms aloft and a soccer ball where her heart would be. A popular former Esteghlal player, midfielder Farhad Majidi, tweeted a photo of an Empty stadium with the caption, “Sahar, my dear, the stands at Azadi stadium will forever yearn to see you.”

So far the only government official to comment is the vice president of women’s and family affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, who wrote Tuesday on Telegram that she was assured that the government would take unspecified action.

“This is really the height of misery for a society, and exposes how, in the 21st century, a girl can set herself on fire for not being afforded the smallest of rights for any citizen, and not a single official seems to care,” one Twitter user in Iran lamented. “If this doesn’t stop, then it will be the future of an entire youth whose dreams and happiness have been trampled on.”

FIFA Frowned

Most of the public outrage has been directed at Iranian authorities for failing to amend a law that could harm Iran’s standing within FIFA, the global body that organizes soccer’s World Cup. Hundreds of Twitter users have urged FIFA to penalize Iran, and the organization urged authorities “to ensure the freedom and safety of any women engaged in this legitimate fight to end the stadium ban for women.”

FIFA had set an Aug. 31 deadline for Iran to allow women to enter sports venues, but Iranian authorities have only promised to allow women to attend an Oct. 10 World Cup playoff, the semi-official Mehr news agency has reported.

When FIFA President Gianni Infantino last visited Tehran in November, he attended an Asian Champions League match, where hundreds of handpicked women were allowed entry and seated in a special “family section.”

But it was a one-off gesture, designed to placate the most powerful body in football, and authorities reinstated the ban after he left. Such gestures are not enough for those Iranians who want the conservative clergy to loosen its grip on social mores.

“Where else in the world is watching soccer a crime, its penalty death?” an Iranian asked on Twitter.

Photo: IRNA

Iran's World Cup Fever Bursts Out Into the Streets

Iranians had few options to watch their World Cup opener against Morocco, bar a few cinemas and cafes, but after their shock victory Friday, they burst out into the streets of Tehran in rare and wild celebration.

The mood had been dampened earlier in the day when the authorities announced that planned open-air screenings in parks and Tehran's largest stadium had been banned without explanation.

Many had been excited about watching the match at Azadi (meaning "freedom") stadium because it would have been the first time since the Islamic revolution that men and women could attend a sports event there together.

Instead, with no bars and mixed signals from police about whether cafes could screen the games, many of the city's football-mad population turned to cinemas to vent their passion.

Supporters thronged the steps of one multiplex in central Tehran ahead of the match, chanting and deafening passers-by with blasts of vuvuzela.

There was a notably even split between men and women. Football is particularly popular among Iranian women, in part because they are banned from attending live matches, lending it an illicit air.

"We hoped to go to the stadium but we are very happy to come here with my family. I'm not that optimistic (that we can win) but I'm just happy to be in the World Cup—that's enough," said Rahelleh, 32, with her young daughter in her arms and an Iran hat on her head.

But she was wrong.

An own goal by Morocco's Aziz Bouhaddouz in the 94th minute handed Iran their first World Cup victory in 20 years.

Within minutes, Tehranis had poured out on to the streets as if they had won the entire tournament.

Traffic on the city's main north-south artery, Vali Asr Street, reduced to a crawl as hundreds of cars blasted their horns and jubilant fans hung out of windows waving the Iranian flag and screaming.

'Feels Great'

"We have not had many things to celebrate recently, so this feels really great," said Amin, 30, as he watched an impromptu crowd of hundreds dancing and cheering in the middle of the street.

By midnight, pounding music and fireworks could be heard across the city and the whooping showed no sign of letting up.

Police appeared happy to let it continue despite such public displays of jollity—particularly men and women together—normally prohibited in the Islamic republic.

The victory was all the sweeter given the rough journey the players have faced, with Portuguese coach Carlos Quieroz complaining about limited resources and poor facilities for the squad.

The players were also the latest victim of US sanctions, with Nike refusing to provide the team with football boots, saying it would breach the US trade embargo on Iran.

That quickly gave rise to a popular meme on social media after the victory with the Nike logo and an altered slogan reading: "We just did it. Without you."

The team faces a tall order in recreating Friday's jubilation as they go on to face two of the world's best teams in Spain and Portugal.

But Iranians always revel in being the underdog.

In a profile for GQ magazine this week, Quieroz said: "Iran loves football, and people know we have problems and now look at Iran differently, more respectfully because they know the challenges we have."

Iranians arrive to watch the World Cup Group B soccer match between Morocco and Iran at Azadi cinema in Tehran on June 15, 2018

Iranians celebrate in the streets of Tehran after their national football team won the the World Cup Group B soccer match between Morocco and Iran on June 15, 2018.

Photo Credit: Team Melli