Since 2012, the Iranian government has also banned women and girls to attend volleyball tournaments, to the point of stoping women who were trying to enter a stadium.
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Women have generally been banned or restricted from attending all-male sports events in Iran since the Islamic revolution in 1979.
On Saturday, she was in tears when security officials told her she would have to leave if she kept it.
The Olympics have provided the chance for some Iranian women to see a volleyball game for the first time.
Speaking to the Associated Press, Safai said: “They said they didn’t want the sign in front of the cameras and they asked us to leave”.
Sarai Darya pleads with workers and security personnel in Rio as they consider removing her for holding up a large sign protesting the fact that women have not been allowed to attend volleyball matches in Iran..
Fans cheer and wave the flag of Iran as Sarai Darya holds a large sign protesting the fact that women have not been allowed to attend volleyball matches in Iran.
Under the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Charter, political messages are banned from all of its venues.
The issue has gathered more attention in recent years as the Iranian men’s national team gained prominence, including its first Olympic qualification this year.
Darya Safai, an activist whose sign read “Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums”, told The Associated Press that she was sitting in the front row when officials told her to either put the banner away or she would be asked to leave Saturday’s match between Iran and Egypt in men’s volleyball.
Safai confirmed that she has tickets to another game on 15 August and would attempt to bring her message back there once again.
“This is not a political statement. This is not a political issue”, USA Volleyball chairwoman Lori Okimura said, per McCauley. “Volleyball has always been about equality, why now are we not sending that same consistent message?”
“The Olympic Spirit, which is against discrimination, is what Iranian women need in their country”, Safai said.
Safai has received an outpouring of support on social media following her act of defiance.
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Last November, Nilougair Ardalan, the captain of the women’s football team, was unable to go to an worldwide competition after being forbidden by her husband to travel overseas.
