FIFA, Iranian national football team players, league players and more are mourning the suicide of Sahar Khodayari, known as the blue girl.
Khodayari set herself on fire last week after she was denied entry to a football stadium in Tehran, says Amnesty International, according to CNN.
Iran's #BlueGirl, who set herself on fire after she was arrested for trying to enter a football stadium, has died. Iran is the only country in the world that bans & punishes women for seeking to enter stadiums. We call for this discriminatory ban to end. https://t.co/CNrmRIIjKk
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) September 10, 2019
The 29-year-old faced charges of “appearing in public without a hijab” when she attempted to enter the stadium “dressed as a man” in March, according to Amnesty.
“She was stopped from entering when the stadium’s security guards discovered she was a woman,” Amnesty said in a statement.
Khodayari appeared in a Tehran court last week and was sentenced to six months n prison for attempting to enter the stadium. When the case was adjourned she self-immolated in front of the courthouse. She died on Monday, September 9 from her injuries.
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch (HRW) both called on football’s world governing body FIFA to end the ban.
In correspondence with Iran International, FIFA said that it is aware of this Tragedy and deeply regrets it.
FIFA also offered condolences to the family of Sahar Khodayari and urged Iranian officials to “guarantee the freedom and security of women who legitimately fight for ending the ban on the presence of women in Iran’s stadiums.”
Esteghlal football club, Iran’s top soccer club, and Khodayari’s team, also held a moment of silence for right before practice.
Iran’s top football team holds a minute of silence before training, in honor of their fan #BlueGirl who set herself on fire and died, after she was arrested for trying to enter the stadium dressed as a boy.pic.twitter.com/GROlKfcQRx
— Negar Mortazavi نگار مرتضوی (@NegarMortazavi) September 12, 2019
The Islamic Republic’s constitution does not ban women from entering the stadium. But it is a policy that the Islamic Republic has implemented since the revolution of 1979.
