While Iranian women have been fighting for the right to attend soccer games for some time, it looks like pressure from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reversed the decision.
Last month, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that he would allow women to attend sports events (but sitting in a separate section of the stands) because their presence would “promote chastity.� However, Ayatollah’s status stands above the president’s, which led Ahmadinejad to reverse his decision.
This comes just a month before the national team plays in the World Cup.
Sigh.
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Wow, it sure feels good to live in the more progressive and enlightened United States of America, where we value our egalitarian ideals...oh wait, the new head of Augusta National has said women still won't be allowed to become members or play in the Masters Golf Tournament. Well, I guess it's damn nice of them to women to attend the sporting event.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/golf/4752319.stm
The reason is supposedly that those slutty Iranian women will be looking!!!! At men!!!!!! In shorts!!!!!!!!! And we can't have that.
Maybe the male soccer players should try playing in burkas.
jake: P-R-I-V-A-T-E C-L-U-B
noname, I understand what you are saying, however the Masters Tournament isn't very private. It is sponsored by very PUBLICLY traded companies who are very publicly owned by very public stockholders. I'm sure some of those stockholders are women. In essence, those stockholders pay for shares in a company that supports a contest that they can't compete in if they desired. That's the problem I have with that. And, honestly the problem I have with a lot of professional sports.
Breck - Jake does not mention corporate sponsership in his post. He mentions only the club and its tournament. Obviously corporations are on their own to decide where to put their money. Didn't The Masters stop accepting corporate sponsorship last year, anyway?
As for the topic of the original post: what do you expect when religion is allowed to take over a government?