Iran bans women from watching the World Cup

Authorities in Iran banned women from
entering most sporting events following the
1979 Islamic Revolution because mixed
crowds enjoying games was deemed un-
Islamic.

According to CNN,for the past 35 years, the
crowds at football games, Iran's most
popular sport have been all male.Iranian
women were briefly allowed to attend
volleyball matches during the presidency
of moderate Mohammad Khatami but the
ban was reinstated in 2005 when
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power.

In an apparent effort to avoid mixed
crowds watching this year's World Cup,
authorities warned restaurants not to
broadcast games.The president of the
Coffee Shop Owners Union told ISNA news
agency that

“we have told our members that
during the World Cup games they
must either turn the TV off or switch
to a channel which is not
broadcasting the games.”