International Football
IRAN BREAKS 40-YEAR TRADITION; ALLOWS WOMEN TO WATCH 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
BY NANCY GILLEN.
The Islamic State of Iran is set to break their long-standing tradition. According to reports, Iran will allow women to watch a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in October, ending a ban, which has been in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
FIFA have been increasing pressure on the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) to end their long-standing ban on women entering Iranian football stadiums, with President Gianni Infantino writing to the governing body in June to seek assurances that women would be allowed to attend 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Infantino gave the FFIRI a July 15 deadline to permit women to buy match tickets, which was missed.
Islamic Republic News Agency has since reported that women will be allowed to watch Iran’s match against Cambodia, taking place at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium on October 10.
“Women can go to Tehran’s Azadi stadium to watch the match between Iran’s national team and Cambodia in October for the Qatar World Cup qualifier,” deputy Sports Minister Jamshid Taghizadeh reportedly said.
In addition, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have said they are working with FIFA to ensure female Iranian fans would be allowed to attend matches in the future.
The ban has been relaxed somewhat recently, with 100 Iranian women allowed to watch the men’s national team friendly against Bolivia last October and 500 women attending the AFC Champions League final match in Tehran between Persepolis and Japan’s Kashima Antlers the following month.
Earlier in 2018,
female fans were allowed to attend live screenings of Iran’s first two games at
that year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Several women were arrested in June at the Azadi Stadium, however, having put on fake beards and wigs to attend Iran’s friendly against Syria.
Two fans were also removed from the FIFA Women’s World Cup match between Canada and New Zealand on June 15, having entered the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble wearing t-shirts that called for Iranian women to be let into stadiums.
FIFA then backtracked on the ejection, saying that the message was social and not political and therefore not breaching any rules.
Women in Iran also struggle to attend volleyball games, with a blanket ban on attendance issued in 2012.
The rules became more moderate in June 2017, with Iranian authorities allowing only a limited number of pre-vetted women to attend matches.
It is not just Iran that ban women from watching sporting events.
Women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to attend football matches as late as last year, and still cannot buy a ticket if unaccompanied.
– insidethegames
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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