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What’s it like to be a female football player in Iran?

Iranian women tackle odds to earn place in football pitch that is still currently dominated by men.

Malavan Bandar Anzali football club is known as the team of the Iranian Navy and is seen as one of the more successful teams coming from outside of Tehran. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Malavan Bandar Anzali football club is known as the team of the Iranian Navy and is seen as one of the more successful teams coming from outside of Tehran. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
By 
Mohammad Ali Najib
27 Nov 2018
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Bandar Anzali, Iran – While media attention has recently been focused on the Iranian government’s decision to allow female football fans to attend men’s matches, Iranian women are winning small but significant victories for the sport – inside the football pitch.

On November 13, the Iranian women’s team made it to the next round of qualifications in Thailand for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Last month, Iran’s Under-19 women’s team meanwhile emerged on top of its group in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) championship qualifiers.

Katayoun Khosrowyar, an Iranian American chemical engineer who coaches the U19 national team, has also been hailed by FIFA for “transforming the women’s game” in Iran.

The country’s Under-16 girl’s team has also advanced to the second round of the AFC tournament, set to be held in March 2019, after qualifying in September from the first round in Tajikistan.

Back home, different teams from the country’s women football league are also trying to assert their place in the sport, which remains dominated by men.

In Bandar Anzali, in Iran’s northern region by the Caspian Sea, there is a sense of a new start among Malavan Club’s young female players, following the reinstatement of the team after being abruptly scrapped two years ago.

In 2016, controversy erupted among Malavan fans after its club CEO was quoted as saying, “We have many mouths to feed. When a storm-lashed ship is sinking, it starts unloading extra burdens.” The statement was widely seen as sexist, belittling women’s ability to play the sport equal to men. 

But after a two-year absence, the Malavan women’s squad is back with a new owner. Maryam Irandoost, a former professional player herself, who led the team before its disbandment in 2016, is also back as the team’s head coach. She also once played for the women’s team, which was launched in 2002. 

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Irandoost said that she and her team “went through a lot” in the last two years, comparing their inability to play to being a “prisoner surrounded by concrete walls”.

Irandoost recently granted Al Jazeera an inside look at her team, as they prepare for their comeback matches when the league starts on December 12.

The squad currently has 25 members. Some of them are still studying while training every day.

Irandoost said that women are as committed to the game as their male counterparts, adding that she hopes to turn their energy into championship trophies. 

“I think playing football as a woman in Iran is absolutely crazy and we are all a bunch of lunatics out of asylum!”

The squad, which was launched in 2002, is made up of 25 players, including younger ones who are still studying at the same time. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
The squad, which was launched in 2002, is made up of 25 players, including younger ones who are still studying at the same time. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
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In recent months, Iranian women's teams have advanced in different international matches, increasing their chances of playing in the World Cup and 2020 Olympics and giving many young women athletes inspiration to play the game. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
In recent months, Iranian women's teams have advanced in different international matches, increasing their chances of playing in the World Cup and 2020 Olympics and giving many young women athletes inspiration to play the game. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
The football season for the women's league starts on December 12. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
The football season for the women's league starts on December 12. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Football is the most popular sport in Bandar Anzali, and in recent years, it has attracted many women fans, while inspiring younger female athletes to play it professionally. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Football is the most popular sport in Bandar Anzali, and in recent years, it has attracted many women fans, while inspiring younger female athletes to play it professionally. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Bandar Anzali is one of the major cities in the northern province of Gilan by the Caspian Sea and it has produced several prominent football players, including Maryam's father, Nosrat. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Bandar Anzali is one of the major cities in the northern province of Gilan by the Caspian Sea and it has produced several prominent football players, including Maryam's father, Nosrat. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Maryam Irandoost, the women's team head coach in the blue jersey, has spent her professional life as a football player in Iran, and now heads the newly revived team. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Maryam Irandoost, the women's team head coach in the blue jersey, has spent her professional life as a football player in Iran, and now heads the newly revived team. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
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Irandoost is the daughter of a prominent football player, Nosrat Irandoost, who in 1976 helped the Malavan Club win the Hazfi Cup in Iran. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Irandoost is the daughter of a prominent football player, Nosrat Irandoost, who in 1976 helped the Malavan Club win the Hazfi Cup in Iran. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Maryam says she was only six months old when she first started watching her father's football matches, joking that she has been a Malavan Club fan 'even before birth'. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Maryam says she was only six months old when she first started watching her father's football matches, joking that she has been a Malavan Club fan 'even before birth'. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
As a player and coach, Irandoost spent 14 years of her life with the Malavan Club and is now leading a new generation of players. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
As a player and coach, Irandoost spent 14 years of her life with the Malavan Club and is now leading a new generation of players. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
In 2016, Malavan Club's women's squad was abruptly shut, and Irandoost compared that decision and their inability to play as like being a 'prisoner surrounded by concrete walls'. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
In 2016, Malavan Club's women's squad was abruptly shut, and Irandoost compared that decision and their inability to play as like being a 'prisoner surrounded by concrete walls'. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Recently, the team has returned, and Irandoost said she hopes that its revival will give reinforce their determination to win championships in national tournaments. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]
Recently, the team has returned, and Irandoost said she hopes that its revival will give reinforce their determination to win championships in national tournaments. [Mohammad Ali Najib/Al Jazeera]

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