Iran: How the self-immolation of football fan Sahar Khodayari threw light on the stadium ban on women

On 9 September 2019, 29-year-old Sahar Khodayari died of burn injuries a week after she immolated herself outside an Islamic Revolutionary Court in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

A short while before the self-immolation, the court told Khodayari that she may be sentenced to six months in prison.

Her crime- she attended a match of her favourite local football club Esteghlal FC.

Iran bans women from attending men’s football matches.

Disguised as a man, Khodayari had entered the Azadi Stadium in Tehran to attend the match in March 2019 but she was caught by the security guards and arrested.

Khodayari who became a symbol of protest in her country was dubbed as the ‘blue girl’ after the colours of her favourite football club Esteghlal.

1-These are the pictures of Sahar Khodayari, aka #BlueGirl, who set herself on fire last year because authorities had arrested her for simply entering a stadium.

Sahar was full of life & joy. All she wanted was to cheer for her team. The regime in Iran was bothered by her joy. https://t.co/6njMQZN6WD

— Masih Alinejad