Infantino welcomes women return as fans to Iran's Imam Reza Stadium

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has welcomed the news that women were allowed to attend a football match at Imam Reza Stadium in Mashhad, where dozens were reportedly denied entry three years ago.

Iranian women's rights organization Open Stadiums confirmed that a small number of women attended Sunday's Cup match between Nassaji Mazandaran und Shahid Ghandi Yazd.

Infantino named the news "an encouraging development" on Instagram on Monday night.

"FIFA's vision is to make football accessible and available to everyone in all parts of the world because our gamne belongs to everyone who wishes to experience it," he said.

Sunday's events are seen as a symbolic victory for female football fans because according to Human Rights Watch dozens of women were forcefully denied entry to the same stadium for a 2022 World Cup qualifier between Iran and Lebanon.

Mashhad is the second biggest city in Iran and an important religious centre of the Islamic Republic.

The conservative clergy opposes the presence of women at football matches because they should not be subjected to spare them from fanatic male fans and their at times vulgar chants.

However, restrictions have been eased, also with the help of FIFA pressure, and last year a men's league match between Sepahan Isfahan and Tehran club Persepolis was played in front of an all-female attendance of 45,000 while 3,000 women and girls attended a Tehran derby match in 2023.

Most top flight teams have small areas reserved for women in their stadiums, and national team matches have also seen more tickets reserved for women than in the past.

Infantino said he hopes "these developments will continue in a positive direction" in Iran and elsewhere.