Iran says women won't be allowed at football matches again because 'half-naked men in sports clothes' will 'lead to sin'

  • Islamic Republic reaffirms ban on female spectators at football games  
  • Threats from prosecutor after 100 women watch men's side take on Bolivia 
  • Clerics claim women watching players will 'lead to sin'  

Iran's prosecutor general said today that women would not be allowed to watch live football matches inside stadiums again, because seeing the players will 'lead to sin'.

Prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri made the comments shortly after approximately 100 women were allowed into the national stadium to watch Iran take on Bolivia in a friendly in Tehran - an extremely rare step in the Islamic Republic.

'I object to the presence of women in Azadi Stadium yesterday. We are a Muslim state, we are Muslims,' Montazeri said, according to the conservative Mehr news agency.

Iranian women exhibit rare displays of public enthusiasm in the conservative country in which women's public lives have been extremely restricted since the Islamic revolution in 1979

Iranian women exhibit rare displays of public enthusiasm in the conservative country in which women's public lives have been extremely restricted since the Islamic revolution in 1979

'We will deal with any official who wants to allow women inside stadiums under any pretext,' he added.

'When a woman goes to a stadium and is faced with half-naked men in sports clothes and sees them it will lead to sin.'

Women have been barred from attending men's football matches since the 1979 Islamic revolution, with religious leaders claiming that women need to be protected from the masculine atmosphere and the sight of semi-clad men.

Around 100 women enjoy the spectacle of live sporting action at the Azadi Stadium in capital Tehran

Around 100 women enjoy the spectacle of live sporting action at the Azadi Stadium in capital Tehran

Modest hope crushed: freedom of movement and expression for womewn has been extremely curtailed in the Islamic since 1979

Modest hope crushed: freedom of movement and expression for womewn has been extremely curtailed in the Islamic since 1979

They have also worried about bodil;y contact between the genders in crowds as people leave sporting arenas.

There had been hopes that women would also be allowed to watch the return match of the 2018 AFC Champions League semi-finals on October 23, but Montazeri warned sports officials that he would prohibit the move.

'If this is repeated I will order the Tehran prosecutor to act,' he said.