On social media, she was called “the girl in blue,” like the color of her favorite team, Esteghlal of Tehran. A passion for soccer frustrated in Iran by the exclusion of women from stadiums, imposed after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. A ban that Sahar Khodayari defied until her death. The 30-year-old fan died from severe burns to 90% of her body after setting herself on fire last week in front of a court in Tehran. An act she made after being told she risked six months in prison for making her dream come true: entering the Azadi stadium in the Iranian capital for a match of Esteghlal, now coached by the Italian Andrea Stramaccioni, involved in a recent controversy with the club over an expired visa that blocked him in the country. It was March 12 when the ayatollahs' religious police stopped Khodayari at the stadium, wrapped in a long overcoat and wearing a blue wig - again in homage to her team - to try to blend in with the men. Perhaps a photo of her in the stands sent to her sister also gave her away. That day, her team was challenging the Emiratis Al Ain in the Asian Champions League. But for her, the match was interrupted. Someone noticed her and she was stopped. After spending three nights in the Gharchak Varamin women's prison in Tehran - a terrible reputation among NGOs for detention conditions - she was released, but her cell phone was confiscated. When she went to get it back, she learned that she risked going back to prison and she couldn't resist. The Iranian judiciary specifies that a sentence had not yet been issued, while in the wake of the controversy the vice president with responsibility for Women and Family, Massoumeh Ebtekar, has asked to open an investigation into the death. In recent days there have been attempts to delegitimize her, speaking of the gesture of an unbalanced person because the woman suffered from bipolar disorder. But the case has sparked strong indignation on social media and brought the controversy over the ban back to the forefront. FIFA has repeatedly asked Tehran to make progress towards liberalization, but the openings have so far been superficial. Like at the last World Cup, when some female fans followed the national team away to Russia, or last November for the final of the Asian Champions League, played by Persepolis at the Tehran stadium, where they were able to enter but only by invitation and in a dedicated section. Next month, for the World Cup qualifiers against Cambodia, women could be admitted again. However, the controversy rages on. And some local soccer stars have also spoken out. Former Bayern Munich player Ali Karimi – who played 127 times for his country – has called on fans to boycott stadiums, while Andranik Teymourian, Iran's first Christian captain, has called for a stadium in Tehran to be named after Khodayari.
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