Iranian women have hailed a landmark moment for their country after female fans were allowed to enter a football stadium to watch a World Cup match for the first time in almost forty years.
Women have been banned from attending male sporting events since 1980 under the conservative Islamic regime.
On Tuesday local media reported that women would be allowed to watch the live broadcast of the Iran vs Spain game the following day, which was to be shown at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
Hours before the game was due to kick off authorities appeared to change their mind and cancelled the event "due to infrastructure difficulties", but scores of families turned up at the stadium anyway and were adamant that they should be let in.
But after around an hour, officers relented and both men and women were allowed to go into the Azadi Stadium – marking a historic moment for the country.
Women shared euphoric images of themselves inside the grounds holding up Iranian flags, Evening Standard reported.
And the official account of Iran’s national team shared a picture of a female fan in the stadium writing, in Farsi, "Anzada Stadium, now!"
