Iranian Woman Sets Self on Fire After Stadium Arrest

Brut America

After potentially facing prison after attending a soccer match disguised as a man, Sahar Khodayari died by suicide after setting herself on fire. FIFA is now under pressure over women being banned from sports events in Iran.

Transcript

00:00Sahar was only 29 years old. She dressed like a boy to sneak into a stadium in Iran where

00:23women are banned. She was stopped by security forces to do a body search. At that moment

00:28she said, don't touch me. I am a woman. She got arrested and the official media announced

00:34that her arrest was for wearing inappropriate hijab and arguing with the security forces.

00:40She went in front of the court and as soon as she found out that she has to go to prison

00:43for six months, then she set herself on fire and she died in hospital.

01:13I went to the stadium. At that time, all the news, newspapers, magazines, such as Iran

01:17and abroad, shared my photos and interviews. Then they forced the girl to go to the stadium.

01:24Many of the girls were put in front of the civilians and went to the stadium.

01:33I would stay in Iran and finish all the posts about the stadium, all the talks about the

01:40stadium. I would finish all the talks about the stadium and I would not go to the stadium

01:47again. I would not talk about the stadium again. Or I would run away from Iran. I chose

01:52the second option and I came out of Iran to continue my path, the path that I started.

01:59We did not have a hard time on this path. We went to prison, we were arrested, we were

02:06put in a cold and hot detention center and we bled. And Sahar died. We bled. So this

02:13is a path that does not return. I will continue this path until I die.

02:21There is nothing in the law saying that women are not allowed to go to stadium or women

02:36are not allowed to dance or women are not allowed to sing solo. But in the Islamic

02:41Republic, for years and years, we have been told that according to Sharia law, if you

02:45go to stadium, if you dress like a boy, if you dance, if you sing solo, then you will

02:51be charged to prison. This is what happened to Sahar, the 29-year-old girl. That is why

02:56we ask the rest of the world, especially the FIFA, to take an action. We don't need empty

03:02words. This is 21st century and the whole world should do something against this gender

03:07apartheid. We call on FIFA to boycott the Islamic Republic's football team.

03:15We call on FIFA to boycott the Islamic Republic's football team.

03:34Yes, yes, yes. I hope that good things will happen. Now that we have given our lives,

03:40we have given our lives, we have gone to prison, I hope that good things will happen.

03:44And FIFA is involved in this crime. FIFA is involved in this crime. FIFA says that they

03:50are putting pressure on Iran, but they are not. If they wanted to put pressure on Iran,

03:54they wouldn't let the league begin. They would have eliminated Iran from all competitions.

03:59They wouldn't have allowed them to play.

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