Finally, Iran allows women journalists to attend men's sports events

, Nov 13: Finally, the Iranian authorities has allowed women journalists in the country to cover men's volleyball matches !

So far, the females in the Islam nation are banned from attending men's sport games, which can be attended only by male reporters. On Thursday, Iranian state news agency reported that the Iranian ministry of youth and sports has allowed female reporters and photographers to attend such sporting events.

The new ruling comes as a surprise because earlier this month, an Iranian court had sentenced a 25-year-old British-Iranian woman, Ghoncheh Ghavami, to a year in jail after she tried to attend a men's volleyball game.

Ghavami, a law student at the University of London, was arrested on June 20 after she, along with women's rights activists, defied the Iranian law and attended a men's volleyball game in the Azadi Stadium in Tehran. She became a face of women's rights in Iran after the incident.

Protests broke out at different part of the world in support of Ghavami. Several young people demonstrated outside the sports centre and many demonstrators were arrested by the security forces.

Iranian administration has charged Ghavami of "propaganda against the state" and now she is serving detention in Evin prison in northern Tehran.

Many international rights organisations, including Amnesty International, has denounced the arrest and demanded her release.

Also, Iranian volleyball is under pressure from the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) for not allowing women to enter stadiums. Earlier, Iran was disqualified from hosting World Junior Championship, Fars news agency reported.

Oneindia News