As I mentioned last month, President Ahmadinejad decreed that he would allow women to attend these events to promote virtue and a healthy sporting atmosphere. Unfortunately for Iranian women, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's Supreme Leader didn't seem to think that was such a hot idea.
Ahmadinejad's decision to allow women into stadiums had provoked outrage among hardline Shiite Muslim clerics, who supported his election last year and who have tightly controlled Iranian society since the 1979 Islamic revolution.That's not all. Mohammad Ali-Abadi, head of the Iranian Physical Education Organization announced:
Iran's Islamic law imposes stringent restrictions on women. They need a male guardian's permission to work or travel, and have rarely been allowed to attend public sports events.
"I will ban athletes with an effeminate look...It is really disgraceful for Iran that young people step onto fields wearing make-up," the top official fumed. "When a man enters the field with dyed hair and groomed eyebrows he is disrespecting society."Those athletes had better count their blessings. If they were just a little bit more in touch with their feminine sides, Iranian law would give them new hemp necklaces.
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