Azadi Stadium in northwest Tehran opened its gates to families to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinal between France and Belgium on the big screen installed at the venue on Tuesday night.
Earlier in the day, MP Parvaneh Salahshouri told IRNA that the Tehran Governorate issued the required permit to screen the semifinal and final games for the families in the country’s largest stadium.
England and Croatia will meet in the second and last semis on Wednesday.
Azadi hosted families twice earlier during the tournament for the Iran-Spain and Iran-Portugal games on June 15 and June 20 respectively. The public largely welcomed the event as the western wing of the stadium, in front of the large screen - was fully occupied for both games. Almost 20,000 tickets were sold for each match.
As someone who was in the stadium to watch the games, Salahshouri said that the atmosphere was quite suitable for the families and she saw no sign of violation of rules in the crowd.
On a rather optimistic note, she hoped that families can come to the stadiums in all cities in the near future.
Women are not allowed inside stadiums in Iran and have long been calling on urban authorities and those concerned to rewrite the rules to enable them to also enjoy sporting events with family and friends.
“I watched one of the (Iran) games at the stadium. The atmosphere was appropriate and suitable for families as they saw the game without disturbance” the lawmaker said.
Built in 1971, Azadi stadium has a seating capacity for 80,000 people. It is now ranked 10th among the largest stadiums in the world but is still the largest in the Middle East.
