Women in Iran are banned from watching live public screenings of Euro 2012 games because it is "inappropriate" for men and women to watch football in theatres together.
The Euro 2012 games underway in Poland and Ukraine are being aired on state television in football-mad Iran.
They are also being shown in movie theatres as a continuation of a practice that became popular for couples and families during the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
However, the screenings of the matches are now segregated, like so many other aspects of Iranian society.
"It is an inappropriate situation when men and women watch football in (movie) theatres together," Bahman Kargar, Iran's deputy police commander in charge of social affairs, told ISNA news agency.
"Men, while watching football, get excited and sometimes utter vulgar curses or tell dirty jokes.
"It is not within the dignity of women to watch football with men. Women should thank the police for the ban."
Many among Iran's hard-line authorities and clerics favour segregation of the sexes and find the mingling of unrelated men and women to be corrupting.
Women in Iran have to use women-only swimming pools, beaches and parks across the Islamic republic. They can travel in the back of public buses, or use women-only taxi cabs or cars on the metro.
Women are also required by law to observe an Islamic dress code, with those improperly wearing their mandatory headscarves or dressed in "vulgar" attires being confronted by Iran's so-called morality police.
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| Iranian women are not allowed to watch football in theatres together with men Photo: Getty Images |
The Euro 2012 games underway in Poland and Ukraine are being aired on state television in football-mad Iran.
They are also being shown in movie theatres as a continuation of a practice that became popular for couples and families during the 2010 World Cup and the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.
However, the screenings of the matches are now segregated, like so many other aspects of Iranian society.
"It is an inappropriate situation when men and women watch football in (movie) theatres together," Bahman Kargar, Iran's deputy police commander in charge of social affairs, told ISNA news agency.
"Men, while watching football, get excited and sometimes utter vulgar curses or tell dirty jokes.
"It is not within the dignity of women to watch football with men. Women should thank the police for the ban."
Many among Iran's hard-line authorities and clerics favour segregation of the sexes and find the mingling of unrelated men and women to be corrupting.
Women in Iran have to use women-only swimming pools, beaches and parks across the Islamic republic. They can travel in the back of public buses, or use women-only taxi cabs or cars on the metro.
Women are also required by law to observe an Islamic dress code, with those improperly wearing their mandatory headscarves or dressed in "vulgar" attires being confronted by Iran's so-called morality police.
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