• Home
• /
• Opinion

World football body's gender bias is for all to see

So why is Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the world soccer federation, doing his part to condone the misogyny?

Over the past few months, the world has once again been reminded of the gender apartheid long practiced in Iran - and of the bravery of Iranian women languishing under it. Late last year protesters began removing their compulsory hijabs in public and waving them in defiant protest. At least 29 women have been jailed for seeking the freedom to show their hair. Some have been beaten. All that in a country in which husbands have a legal right to bar their wives from working and in which a woman's testimony in court is worth half that of a man's.
So why is Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the world soccer federation, doing his part to condone the misogyny?
Infantino - who took the reins of FIFA in 2016 after a corruption scandal brought down his predecessor, Sepp Blatter - was in Tehran last week in part to meet with Iran's president, Hassan Rouhani, and to resolve a continuing dispute between Iranian and Saudi Arabian clubs. On March 1, the FIFA chief attended the Tehran Derby, one of the country's biggest annual soccer matches, in Iran's national soccer stadium, Azadi, meaning "freedom."
It's a name that is bitterly ironic for Iranian women, who have not been allowed inside the stadium since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. In 2006, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president at the time, lifted the ban on the grounds that the presence of women would "promote chastity," but his decision was overturned just a month later by the supreme leader. Then in 2012, the barring of women was extended to volleyball matches.
Iran's women are still waiting to be allowed in the stands. Last April, eight women were arrested after sneaking into Azadi stadium to watch a game while dressed as men.  "The Tehran Derby is one of the most important matches of the year," one of the Tehran-based activists behind Open Stadiums, an organisation fighting for the rights of women to watch sporting events in stadiums like Azadi, wrote me in an email. "For many girls and women, their biggest wish is to be there in Azadi stadium. Infantino had a huge opportunity here to make a statement about equality and dignity. It would have been an amazing statement on behalf of Iranian women if he refused to go to the game." The activist asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
Infantino, during his visit to Azadi, seemed to ignore questions from a female journalist about "women's rights to be allowed into the stadiums," according to a tweet from Hadi Nili of the BBC's Persian service. Meantime, outside the stadium, 35 women were detained for trying to watch the game alongside their fellow citizens and the head of FIFA. According to the activist from Open Stadiums, several other women who dressed as men to sneak into the stadium were also arrested.
What a missed opportunity. Just imagine if Infantino had made a statement explaining why he couldn't attend the game. Or insisted that he'd attend only in the company of some female soccer stars. Or attended the game, but used the opportunity to publicly call for women's equality in Iranian soccer.
Such a gesture would have been in keeping with the image of a dignified FIFA that Infantino has relentlessly pushed since he took charge. "We will restore the image of FIFA and the respect of FIFA, and everyone in the world will applaud us," he said during his acceptance speech in February 2016.  The organisation's governing rules make its stance on discrimination absolutely clear. Article 4 of the FIFA Statutes "places particular emphasis on identifying and addressing differential impacts based on gender and on promoting gender equality and preventing all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment." And last May, the organisation adopted a Human Rights Policy that promised to "apply effective leverage" to strengthen "human rights in or through football."
Or not. On March 1, I contacted FIFA to ask about Infantino's visit to Azadi. "FIFA is strongly committed to promoting the protection of human rights, including especially the right of women to attend football matches," a spokesman said, adding that one of the "main purposes" of Infantino's trip was to raise this issue. "During his meeting with the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, President Infantino underlined the importance that all football fans irrespective of gender should be allowed to cheer and support their favourite teams inside the stadium, especially in a country like Iran, where the whole population is so passionate about football. President Rouhani promised positive developments on this in the near future."
That's fine as boilerplate, and maybe FIFA is serious about putting pressure on Rouhani. But the real test of FIFA's seriousness is whether it is willing to apply serious penalties to countries that think the rules of the beautiful game, both on the field and off, don't apply to them. "This isn't just a soccer game," said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. "This is a statement about whether or not FIFA considers women second-class citizens." Do you, Mr Infantino?
-NYT Syndicate