Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and 187 national teams participate internationally. The same rules, known as the Laws of the Game, are used for both women's and men's football.
The participation of women and girls in sports, physical fitness, and exercise has been recorded to have existed throughout history. However, participation rates and activities vary in accordance with nation, era, geography, and stage of economic development. While initially occurring informally, the modern era of organized sports did not begin to emerge either for women or men until the late industrial age.
The Iran national football team, recognised by FIFA as IR Iran, represents Iran in international senior football and is governed by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI).
Football is the most popular sport in Iran, with wrestling and volleyball as close contenders. Football has been a part of life for Iranians for many decades now and is played in schools, streets, and football clubs nationwide.
The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran is the governing body for football in Iran. It was founded in 1920. The federation has been a member of FIFA since 1948 and a member of the Asian Football Confederation since 1958.
Throughout history, women in Iran have played numerous roles, and contributed in many ways, to Iranian society. Historically, tradition maintained that women be confined to their homes to manage the household and raise children. During the Pahlavi era, there was a drastic social change towards women's desegregation such as ban of the veil, right to vote, right to education, equal salaries for men and women, and the right to hold public office. Women were active participants in the Islamic Revolution. Iran's constitution, adopted after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, proclaims equality for men and women under Article 20, while mandating legal code adhering to Sharia law. Article 21 of the constitution as well as a few parliament-passed laws give women rights such as being allowed to drive, hold public office, and attend university but not wearing a veil in public can be punished by law; and when in public, all hair and skin except the face and hands must be covered. However, this is often not enforced; notably in recent years, Iranian women have started a number of groups to rebel against the government's oppressive policies and reclaim their independence and rights.
The Azadi Stadium, opened as the Aryamehr Stadium, is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by Abdol Aziz Mirza Farman-Farmaian Architects and Associates (AFFA) with other parts of the sports complex based on plans by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, an American architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was inaugurated on 17 October 1971 by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran; it is currently self-owned by Esteghlal and Persepolis. It is also the home stadium of the Iran national football team. It has a capacity of 78,116 spectators, as the result of conversion to all-seater stadium. The stadium is part of the larger Azadi Sport Complex.
Many sports in Iran are both traditional and modern. Tehran, for example, was the first city in West Asia to host the Asian Games in 1974, and continues to host and participate in major international sporting events to this day. Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Iran's national sport, however today, football is the most popular sport in Iran. Because of economic sanctions, the annual government's budget for sport was about $80 million in 2010 or about $1 per person.
During the late 20th and early 21st centuries in Iran, women's rights have been severely restricted, compared with those in most developed nations. The World Economic Forum's 2017 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Iran 140, out of 144 countries, for gender parity. In 2017, in Iran, females comprised just 19% of the paid workforce, with seven percent growth since 1990. In 2017, the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Index ranked Iran in the bottom tercile of 153 countries. Compared to other South Asian regions, women in Iran have a better access to financial accounts, education, and cellphones. Iran was ranked 116, out of the 153 countries, in terms of legal discrimination against women.
The Iran women's national football team, nicknamed the Lionesses, represents Iran in international women's football around the world, and is controlled by the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI). The Iran women's team played its first international match in September 2005 against Syria.
The association football tournament at the 2012 Summer Olympics was held from 25 July to 11 August, and was the only sport to begin before the official opening day of the Olympic Games, two days before the opening ceremony. It was also the only sport to be held at multiple venues outside London, with Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Coventry and Cardiff all hosting matches. The finals were played at Wembley Stadium. Associations affiliated with FIFA were invited to send their senior women's and men's under-23 national teams to participate; men's teams were allowed to augment their squads with three players over the age of 23. Five hundred and four football players competed for two sets of gold medals.
The Women's Islamic Games, also called the Muslim Women's Olympics, were an international multi-sport event started in 1993. The event was organised by the Islamic Federation of Women's Sport. Muslim women of all nationalities were allowed to take part in the Games.
Sex segregation in Iran encompasses practices derived from the conservative dogma of Shiite Islam currently taking place in Iran. Most areas of the country are segregated by sex, except universities. In many cities, there are women parks. Sex segregation prohibits males from viewing females, and age of consent laws do not exist, as all sexual activity outside marriage is illegal. UN experts have denounced Iran for enforcing gender apartheid.
The Sudan women's national football team is the official women's national football team of the country of Sudan. The team was established in 2021, and is controlled by the Sudan Football Association (SFA), the governing body for football in Sudan.
The Zanzibar women's national football team, nicknamed the "Zanzibar Queens", is the women's representative team from Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania. Founded in 1988, the team has limited recognition as the regional governing body, the Zanzibar Football Association, is a full member of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) and Confederation of African Football (CAF), but Zanzibar Football Association is not recognised by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) as an independent national association. The national team was supposed to have its first international matches in the CECAFA Women's Challenge Cup in October 2007, but the event was cancelled. The team plays domestically against men's sides in Zanzibar. The development of women's football in Zanzibar faces several challenges specific to Africa and their own islands, including efforts to politicize the game.
The national federation was created in 1956 and became a FIFA affiliate in 1956. However women's football is not included in the country's FIFA coordinated Goals! project. By 2011, inside the Saudi Arabia Football Federation, there has been an effort to create women's football programs at universities. Input had been sought on how to do this from other national federations including ones from the United States, Germany, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
Some association football players are Muslims, and their clubs have adapted to their principles.
Modern Muslim female athletes have achieved success in a variety of sports, including volleyball, tennis, association football, fencing, and basketball. In the 2016 Summer Olympics, fourteen women from Muslim-majority countries won medals, participating in a wide range of sports.
Sahar Khodayari, also known as the Blue Girl, was an Iranian woman who self-immolated in Tehran to protest the national laws banning females from attending sports events and entering stadiums since the Islamic Revolution. She was a fan of Esteghlal F.C., and in March 2019, she attempted to gain entry at the male-only Azadi Stadium while disguised as a man to watch a match played by the team. On 2 September 2019, she was told by the Islamic Revolutionary Court that she may face a six-month prison sentence. After leaving court, she died by suicide through self-immolation in front of the building, succumbing to her injuries a week later. Khodayari's politicized suicide has generated much debate in Iran about the government's restrictions on women.
Katahyunne Laudanne "Katayoun" Khosrowyar, commonly known as Kat or Kat Khosrowyar, is an Iranian-American football coach. She is better known as the former head coach of the Iran U-19 National Women's Football team.
