Iranian female football fan dies after setting herself on fire to protest possible jail term for entering stadium

Tehran: An Iranian female football fan has died after setting herself on fire outside a court after learning she may have to serve a six-month sentence for trying to enter a football stadium, a semi-official news agency reported Tuesday. The tragic death immediately drew an outcry among some football stars and known figures in Iran, where women are banned from football stadiums, though they are allowed at some other sports, such as volleyball. Sahar Khodayari died at a Tehran hospital on Monday, according to the Shafaghna news agency. The 30-year-old was known as the “Blue Girl” on social media for the colors of her favorite Iranian football team, Esteghlal. She set herself on fire last week, reportedly after learning she may have to go to prison for trying to enter a stadium in March to watch an Esteghlal match. She was pretending to be a man and wore a blue hairpiece and a long overcoat when the police stopped her.

Our dear Sahar burnt herself to death, when she was charged to 6 month in jail for ... going to the stadium to support her #Esteghlal.
She supported us despite the politics made it illegal for her, but what we do can do to support her? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

We are cowards. pic.twitter.com/VTKKa0jvIN

— Esteghlal (@EsteghlalFC_En) September 9, 2019

Hi @FIFAcom - it is overdue to do something for the women in Iran. This is not okay. Rest in peace #SaharKhodayari, a very brave woman! https://t.co/W63KPApHEQ

— Hedvig Lindahl (@hedvig_lindahl) September 10, 2019

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Khodayari, who had graduated in computer sciences, then spent three nights in jail before being released pending the court case. No verdict had been delivered in her case so far. Esteghlal issued a statement, offering condolences to Khodayari’s family. Former Bayern Munich midfielder Ali Karimi — who played 127 matches for Iran and has been a vocal advocate of ending the ban on women — urged Iranians in a tweet to boycott football stadiums to protest Khodayari’s death. Iranian-Armenian football player Andranik “Ando” Teymourian, the first Christian to be the captain of Iran’s national squad and also an Esteghlal player, said in a tweet that one of Tehran’s major football stadiums will be named after Khodayari, “once, in the future.” The minister of information and communications technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, described the death as a “bitter incident.” Female lawmaker Parvaneh Salahshouri called Khodayari “Iran’s Girl” and tweeted: “We are all responsible.”