Unlike soccer games, which Iranian women have never been allowed to watch live, attending volleyball games had been within the reach of Iranian women until 2012. After a ban that lasted five years, Iran’s female sports fans purchased their tickets to the Iran-Belgium volleyball game in June, following an announcement by the Iran Volleyball Federation that women could also purchase tickets online for the first 10 minutes after going on sale.

In 2012, Iran banned women from watching men play volleyball in stadiums. The measure, although never ratified as a law, was taken following complaints by the hard-line group Ansar-e Hezbollah as well as criticisms by Shiite grand clerics.

Over the last five years, attempts have been made by Iranian women to return to volleyball stadiums. Women have held rallies in front of Tehran’s famous Azadi stadium. They have faced arrests, appealed to the International Volleyball Federation asking that gender discrimination be removed and, of course, remained optimistic about the promises made by the government of President Hassan Rouhani in regard to “citizens’ rights” and “gender equality.”

Until now, these efforts have only resulted in a limited and selective presence by women in stadiums. In 2015, women with foreign passports were allowed into the stadium for the Iran-US game. In 2016, some female employees of the Iran Volleyball Federation and the players’ female family members were allowed to watch the Iran-Serbia game.