FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Wednesday that he met with United States President Donald Trump, who told him he welcomed Iran's participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
With few exceptions, female fans have been banned from sports events in the Islamic republic since the 1979 revolution and FIFA faced calls for the men's team to be banned from the 2022 World Cup over the issue.
It is only the second time in almost 40 years that Iranian women have been able to watch football in Tehran's Azadi stadium, Iran's biggest with 120,000 seats.
Al-Ittihad's Asian Champions League match with Iran's Sepahan was called off on Monday after the Saudi team refused to leave their dressing-room due to a statue of an assassinated Iranian general being placed at the entrance to the pitch.
Coach Branko Ivankovic insisted China's World Cup qualifying campaign was still alive despite back-to-back losses to Saudi Arabia and Australia over the last five days leaving them bottom of Asian qualifying Group C.
Iranian women have been banned from stadiums when men's teams have been playing, since just after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Female fans from other countries have previously been permitted to attend games at the Azadi Stadium, including Syrian women for a World Cup qualifier in September last year.
Indian football team's dismal run continued as they suffered a humiliating 0-4 loss to Iran in a Group D match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Initial 3,500 tickets for female fans were quickly sold out in about one hour and as a result, an additional 1,100 tickets were released for the match at the national Azadi Stadium.
Iran handed Cambodia a record-breaking 14-0 thrashing on an historic day in Tehran as goals flowed in World Cup qualifiers across Asia with Japan, South Korea and Australia securing comfortable wins on Thursday.
Kashima claimed their first continental title with a gutsy scoreless draw against Persepolis at the imposing Azadi Stadium
Five Iran soccer fans were trampled to death after a 2006 World Cup qualifier against Japan in Tehran.
The semi-official news agency Tasnim said an unspecified number of women had entered the Azadi (Freedom) Stadium to watch Persepolis seek to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Japan's Kashima Antlers and claim their first continental crown.
Mumbai City FC lost 2-0 to Iranian Club Nassaji Mazandaran in their first AFC Champions League group stage game at home.
A female Iranian fan died earlier this month, after setting herself on fire to protest against her arrest for attending a match.
Global football body FIFA has been urged by its own human rights advisory panel to give Iran a deadline for allowing women to watch football matches.
The Iranian group OpenStadiums, which is campaigning for the right of women to attend sports fixtures in the Islamic Republic, said that some women were arrested near Azadi stadium on Thursday during the Esteghlal-Persepolis match.
As many as 5,885 students from the Chandigarh University and other schools and colleges along with volunteers of the NID Foundation and other dignitaries gathered for the flag formation at the Chandigarh Cricket Stadium here, according to a release issued by the university.
Here's what to expect at this year's Independence Day in different parts of the country.
Iran took a significant step towards qualifying for next year's World Cup finals with a 1-0 win over China on Tuesday that pushed Marcello Lippi's team closer to the brink of elimination.
As India's 75th Independence Day draws near, the government is going all out to raise awareness about the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
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With 59 cameras, including one fixed on the dome of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, public broadcaster Doordarshan is all set to beam live every bit of action of the Republic Day parade which features a fly-past by 75 aircraft of the Indian Air Force over the iconic Rajpath.
India has not only been decked in tricolour hues in the lead up to the 76th Independence Day celebrations, but also put under a heavy security blanket, right from Delhi, the epicentre of the mega celebrations, to Jammu and Kashmir.
Some of the big moments of the sporting world from 2010-2019!
From a Pakistan-trained militant to one of the prominent separatist faces in Kashmir, life has come a full circle for chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik, who was in limelight for varied reasons over the past three decades of turmoil in the erstwhile restive border state.
The stability and pragmatism of Carlos Queiroz's seven-year reign has firmly established Iran's as Asia's number one team, but the nation will go to the World Cup hoping to advance for the first time to the knockout phase.
Images and summary of all the World Cup 2022 qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'These reports of cases being very low in other states, is it true? Are the numbers believable?'
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