WORLD NEWS SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 / 2:39 PM / UPDATED 32 MINUTES AGO

Exclusive: FIFA officials to visit Iran after death of 'Blue Girl'

Simon Evans
6 MIN READ

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - FIFA officials will visit Iran, following the death of a female fan who set herself on fire in protest at her arrest for attending a match, world soccer’s governing body told Reuters on Wednesday.

Sahar Khodayari, dubbed “Blue Girl” due to her favorite team Esteghlal’s colors, died in hospital on Monday after her self-immolation outside a court where she feared being jailed for six months having attended the match in disguise as a man.

While foreign women have been allowed limited access to matches, Iranian women have been banned from stadiums when men’s teams have been playing since just after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

A FIFA spokesman said that meetings with Iranian soccer officials, expected inside the next two weeks, were part of preparations for Iran’s World Cup qualifying games — they face Cambodia at home on Oct. 10 — and were not a specific response to Khodayari’s death.

The FIFA officials, however, will check the preparations made by the Iranian FA to provide access to that Oct. 10 match for women.

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