The defeat of the Iranians after the firing of a fan

An Iranian woman arrested for being dressed as a man to sneak into a stadium and watch the death of a football match after being set on fire, knowing that she could pass six months in prison, reported Tuesday semi-official media outlets.

The self-immolation death of a 29-year-old man, known as Sahar Khodayari, has become a hashtag trend on social media in the Islamic Republic.

It also comes from the fact that FIFA is working with the Iranian authorities to lift the ban on women entering stadiums for men's games, a ban imposed since the Islamic revolution in 1979. FIFA wants the The problem will be solved before October 10, when Iran – the first Asian team – will hold its first World Cup qualifier against Cambodia.

Khodayari died Monday in a hospital in Tehran, the Iranian capital, after being burned to 90% of the body. She had been on a respirator since being sprinkled with gasoline in front of the Ershad courthouse in Tehran on September 2, according to the Iranian news website Rokna, which publishes in Iran with the permission of the government.

She had just learned that she could be tried by an Iranian revolutionary court and jailed for six months, her father said on the website.

Khodayari's sister told the pro-reform newspaper Shahrvand that her sister was suffering from bipolar disorder. Her father said that she had stopped taking medication a year ago.

In March, Khodayari attempted to sneak into Tehran's Azadi stadium to watch his favorite team, Esteghlal, face the UAE team, Al Ain. As in other matches, she disguised herself as a man and received the nickname "Blue Girl" for wearing the colors of the team. However, the police arrested her and arrested her.

She spent three nights in prison before being released pending her trial. She would have gone back to court to recover her seized cell phone and learned that she could face a jail sentence.

The news of his death ricocheted across Iran on Tuesday, with tributes bearing the hashtagged #BlueGirl.

Former Bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi – who played 127 games for Iran and vocally suggested lifting the ban on women – urged Iranians to boycott stadiums for protest the death of Khodayari.

The Iranian-Armenian player Andranik "Ando" Teymourian, the first Christian to be the captain of the Iranian national team and also Esteghlal player, tweeted that one of the main stadiums of Tehran should be wearing the name of Khodayari "in the future".

Legislator Parvaneh Salahshouri called Khodayari an "Iranian girl" and tweeted, "We are all responsible".

Khodayari's death has not been reported by the Iranian media. The conservative Shafaqna news agency acknowledged his death on Tuesday in a brief statement, noting that the case had attracted the attention of the international community and prompted the "counterrevolutionary media" to "cry" over the case.

FIFA is trying to push Iran to allow women to participate in matches. A partial exception came in November, when hundreds of Iranian women, separated from their supporters, were admitted to Tehran's Azadi Stadium to attend the Asian Champions League final.

Women were allowed to enter a stadium for the first time since 1979 last June to watch a broadcast of the national team competing for the World Cup in Russia.

However, local matches have maintained the restriction. Volleyball, another popular sport, also sees officials banning women from attending the men's games in Tehran, although women have been allowed to participate in some matches in other Iranian cities.

The hard-line Shiite clerics, citing their own interpretation of Islamic law, believe in the segregation of men and women at public events, as well as the protection of women against male sport. However, this has drawn criticism from human rights activists abroad and at home.

"The stadium ban is not enshrined in law or regulation, but is ruthlessly enforced by the country's authorities," wrote Mindy Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch.

Khodayari's death highlights "the need for Iran to end its ban on attending women's sports matches – and the urgency for control bodies like FIFA to enforce its own rules relating to human rights ".

To his knowledge, Amnesty International has stated that "Iran is the only country in the world to arrest and punish women" who seek to enter the stadiums. Saudi Arabia, a long-time company, recently allowed women to attend matches under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"What happened to Sahar Khodayari is heartbreaking and reveals the impact of the Iranian authorities' appalling disregard for women's rights in the country," said Philip Luther, director of research and advocacy at Amnesty International.

"Her only" crime "was to be a woman in a country where women face legal discrimination that unfolds in the most horrific way in all areas of their lives. even sports. "