As reported by Sky Sports News, a formal request has been sent to football’s world governing body, FIFA, just 30 days before the World Cup starts in Qatar, asking for the immediate suspension of the Iranian FA, thus ejecting Iran from the tournament before it gets underway.
The request has spent to the FIFA Council and it’s president, Gianni Infantino, by a group of Iranian sports men and women, protesting Iranian authorities’ treatment of women, particularly in relation to sports. Iranian woman have very little to no access to sporting venues, such as football stadia, which directly conflicts with FIFA’s drive for inclusion and equality within the sport.
Iran are scheduled to compete as part of Group B along with the USA, Wales and England, but the Iranian FA have failed to meet a 2019 deadline set by FIFA to change their discriminatory rules. As pointed out by the protesting group, this puts Iran in breach of FIFA’s laws which, according to those laws, should equal suspension or expulsion, meaning Iran could not compete in Qatar.
As reported by the Economist, continued discrimination against women in Iranian society has led to widespread protests in recent weeks following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained by police for showing too much hair.
GFFN
