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Iranian women allowed to watch live football match

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Iranian women take a selfie picture during the friendly football match between Iran and Bolivia at the Azadi Stadium in TehranImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Iranian women have previously only been allowed to attend select matches, and under very strict rules.

Women in Iran are being allowed to freely attend a live football match for the first time in around 40 years on 10 October.

They have previously been restricted from entering sports stadiums due to religious rules which say women must not witness masculine behaviour.

But Fifa - the organisation which runs world football - warned they must change the rules or risk being suspended from future competitions.

The 3,500 women who have managed to get tickets to Iran's 2022 World Cup qualifier against Cambodia on Thursday, will be seated in a separate section to the men and will reportedly be watched by female police officers.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Football journalist, Raha Poorbakhsh, has never been able to watch a football match live before, but shows her ticket.

One football journalist, Raha Poorbakhsh, has never been able to watch a football match live before, despite reporting on the sport for years.

"I still can't believe this is going to happen because after all these years of working in this field, watching everything on television, now I can experience everything in person." she told her fellow journalists.

The issue has been controversial in Iran, with many different people from all sides arguing for and against the change in the rule.