Iranian football fan Sahar Khodayari died on 9 September 2019 after setting herself on fire following her court appearance on charges related to her attempt to enter a football stadium in March 2019 disguised as a man. Iran's 'Blue Girl', named after her favourite team's colours, was stopped by security and subsequently detained. Iranian women have been effectively banned from entering football stadiums since 1981.

Whilst FIFA's own rules ban discrimination on the basis of gender, the sporting body faced criticism over this latest tragedy. Numerous Iranian activists, football pundits and experts have called for FIFA to take concrete action against Iran, such as suspending Iran's football federation. FIFA had previously set a deadline of August 31st 2019 for Iran to start admitting women into stadiums, yet access for women is still not guaranteed.

During a visit to Iran on 19 September, FIFA met with Iranian officials to discuss measures designed to allow women to enter football stadiums.  FIFA has also issued  statements reiterating its position against discrimination and noting the absence of any operational obstacles to grant women acces to stadiums . As part of World Cup qualifying matches, the Iranian national team is due to play a game against Cambodia on Oct 10th; women's rights activists and other stakeholders will not only be scrutinising Iran's preparations to allow women to attend in the lead up to this match, but also FIFA's actions to make women's access a reality.