International Football
IRAN SET TO LIFT BAN ON FEMALE FOOTBALL FANS
BY DAN PALMER
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the world governing body have been “assured” by Iran that it will end its ban on women attending football matches.
The 49-year-old Swiss demanded that the country change its stance earlier this month and said FIFA were “expecting positive developments” before the Iranian men’s World Cup qualifier with Cambodia next month.
He has now reported supposed good news after speaking at a conference in Milan which analysed this year’s Women’s World Cup in France.
“We need to have women attending,” Infantino, who was re-elected unopposed as President in June, said.
“We have been assured that as of the next international game of Iran, women will be allowed to enter football stadiums.
“This is something very important.
“In 40 years this has not happened, with a couple of exceptions.”
Iran’s clash with Cambodia is due to take place on October 10 at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium.
Infantino had stopped short of threatening to suspend Iran if it did not reverse its rule, a move human rights groups have called for after the country failed to show any improvement on its stance towards female supporters.
The situation took a tragic twist earlier this month when Iranian fan Sahar Khodayari committed suicide by setting herself on fire.
Twenty-nine-year-old Khodayari was arrested in March after disguising herself as a man and trying to sneak into a match between Iranian team Esteghlal and Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates at Azadi Stadium.
She was released pending a legal case but, upon returning to Ershad Courthouse to collect her phone on September 2, Khodayari learned that she could be tried by a revolutionary court and put in prison for six months.
Iranian news website Rokna reported that she set herself on fire in protest and later died from her injurie
Minky Worden, a director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, has previously criticised FIFA for a “long delay” in bringing about change.
Infantino had previously given the Iranian Football Federation a July 15 deadline to allow women to buy tickets, which was missed.
The country did briefly relax its rules last year, allowing 100 women to watch Iran’s friendly with Bolivia.
Another 500 watched the Asian Champions League final match in Tehran between Persepolis and Japan’s Kashima Antlers the following month, which Infantino attended, but several women were then arrested in June after putting on fake beards and wigs to attend Iran’s friendly against Syria.
FIFA were also criticised when two fans were removed from the Women’s World Cup match between Canada and New Zealand in France on June 15, having entered the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble wearing shirts that called for Iranian women to be let into stadiums.
They later performed a U-turn, admitting 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 games.
Iran is also facing international pressure in judo.
Earlier this month, the International Judo Federation suspended the country over its anti-Israel stance.
It came amid allegations that Saeid Mollaei was placed under pressure at the World Championships to avoid facing an Israeli athlete.
Mollaei said threats had been made against himself and his family.
– insidethegames
Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has been named the new head coach of the England national team, the country’s Football Association said in a statement on Wednesday.
The German, who is England’s third foreign manager, after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello, will be assisted by Englishman Anthony Barry, the statement added.
“We are thrilled to have hired Thomas Tuchel, one of the best coaches in the world and Anthony Barry who is one of the best English coaches to support him,” FA CEO Mark Bullingham said.
Tuchel replaces Lee Carsley, England’s under-21 manager, who has been in temporary charge since the resignation of Gareth Southgate after England’s defeat by Spain in the Euro 2024 final in July.
-Reuters
German Thomas Tuchel has been appointed head coach of the England national team on Wednesday.
Born: Aug. 29, 1973 in Krumbach, Germany.
PLAYING CAREER
* Tuchel played for his local club TSV Krumbach, before moving to FC Augsburg’s academy at the age of 15.
* He never played for Augsburg’s senior side and joined German second division team Stuttgarter Kickers in 1992.
* After eight league appearances for Kickers, Tuchel moved to fourth-tier SSV Ulm.
* Tuchel made 69 league appearances for Ulm as a central defender before he was forced to retire in 1998 at the age of 25 due to a knee injury.
COACHING CAREER
* Tuchel began his coaching career with a youth team role at VfB Stuttgart in 2000, working with future Germany internationals Mario Gomez and Holger Badstuber.
* He returned to Augsburg and took charge of their reserve team for the 2007-08 season.
* Tuchel was appointed Mainz 05 manager in 2009, replacing compatriot Juergen Klopp.
* He guided Mainz to Bundesliga stability during his five-year stint at the club, gaining plaudits for his team’s high energy, attacking style of play.
* Tuchel took over from Klopp as Borussia Dortmund coach in 2015.
* He led Dortmund to a 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2017 German Cup final. He was sacked by Dortmund three days later.
* Tuchel joined Paris St Germain in 2018 on a two-year contract, replacing Unai Emery.
* He won two Ligue 1 titles, including a domestic quadruple in his second season, and guided the club to their first Champions League final, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich.
* Tuchel was sacked by PSG on Christmas Eve in 2020, despite the club finishing top of their Champions League group and sitting third in the Ligue 1 table.
* He was named Chelsea manager in January 2021 on an initial 18-month contract following the dismissal of Frank Lampard.
* Tuchel revived the team’s Premier League season and guided the London club to the Champions League final, where they beat Manchester City. Chelsea also won the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
* Chelsea sacked Tuchel in September 2022 following a shock 1-0 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb in their opening Champions League group game.
* Bayern Munich appointed Tuchel to succeed Julian Nagelsmann in March last year.
* Bayern decided to let Tuchel go at the end of the 2023-24 season despite a contract until 2025. Tuchel steered Bayern to the Bundesliga title in 2022-23, but they finished the last campaign without any silverware for the first time in more than a decade.
* Tuchel will become England’s third foreign manager after Sweden’s Sven-Goran Eriksson and Italian Fabio Capello.
* Tuchel will take over the team in January ahead of the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup.
-Reuters
Wolverhampton Wanderers forward Mateus Mane has become hot property after Portugal named the 17-year-old in their Under-18 squad on Friday, one day after England included him in their squad.
Mane was called up for a second successive England youth camp by coach Liam Bramley before the team travel to Marbella for a four-team tournament this month.
Mane is eligible for both teams having played for the Portugal Under-17 side last season. As the Under-18 team is a non-UEFA age group, both nations are entitled to call the player up.
He made his England international debut last month against the Portugal Under-18 side who have named Mane in their squad for a four-nation tournament this month.
With both tournaments running concurrently, Mane can only play for one team and Wolves and England confirmed he would feature in Bramley’s side.
Reuters has contacted Portugal’s football association for clarification.
While players with multiple nationalities have played for more than one country if they are eligible, they are not allowed to switch allegiances at senior level – unless they have played only in friendly matches for the first country.
-Reuters
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