Iran bars single women from sporting events

AFP - A senior Iranian sports official said that a presidential order to end a ban on women spectators in stadiums did not apply to unmarried females.

"The plan to have women in stadiums is merely for families. It does not consider single women. They are still banned from entering stadiums," said Mohammad Aliabadi, the head of Iran's Physical Education Organisation.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had announced Monday that Iranian women can finally go to stadiums to watch sporting events, putting an unexpected end to a quarter-century ban.

The president argued that despite reservations, "experience has proven that when women and families are allowed into stadiums, ethics and chastity will prevail."

But Aliabadi also said the change required a "study of security and social factors so that women's dignity is preserved" -- signaling women will be kept out of stadiums for some time to come.

Since the Islamic revolution ushered in segregation of the sexes and a strict dress code for women, only a tiny number of Iranian women have been allowed inside stadiums -- despite a national passion for football that is shared by men and women alike.

Only the very few women able to secure official invitations to VIP sections of the stands have been able to watch live sporting events. Even female sports journalists have been given extremely limited access.

Ahmadinejad's order has drawn complaints from some fellow hardliners, with one MP warning of the dangers for women of seeing football players' "bare legs" and hearing male spectators shout obscenities at referees.