伊朗电视台日前发布新闻说，总统内贾德已命令该国分管体育的部门在运动场为女性观众提供专用的看台，总统在声明中说，“当有重要的大赛举行时，体育场内最好的看台应该分配给妇女和她们的家人”。
这是自1979年伊斯兰革命后伊朗政府首次解除妇女外出看球的禁令。 


　　The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has announced that women will be allowed to attend football matches in big stadiums for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution. 


　　Under a decree reported on state television yesterday, the president has ordered the head of the country's sports organisation to provide separate areas for women. "The best stands should be allocated to women and families in the stadiums in which national and important matches are being held," Mr Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. 


　　Women have occasionally scuffled with police when barred from entering stadiums, although now and then they have been allowed into smaller venues to watch sports such as basketball or volleyball. They have also tried to go inside venues disguised as men or have sneaked in with the supporters of foreign teams. 


　　Last month security forces attacked dozens of female football fans who had bought tickets for a match at the Azadi stadium in Tehran. They briefly unfurled protest banners and staged a demonstration outside before being forced into a bus and driven away. A few days later some 250 female spectators at a gymnastics world cup event in Tehran were escorted from an indoor stadium. 


　　At a time when the Iran is facing international pressures over its nuclear programme, the president's move may be an attempt to defuse one of the most divisive issues inside the country. Since Mr Ahmadinejad won the presidency last year with the backing of conservative clerics and Basij religious militias hardliners have been pressing for tighter controls on "immoral behaviour".