Fighting For Iranian Women’s Football

Maryam Majd, Iran

Maryam Majd is a sports photographer based in Tehran, Iran, who primarily focuses her lens on women’s athletes. She is known as the first female sports photographer in Iran and was also the first Iranian female sports photographer to receive accreditation from FIFA in 2011.

Maryam has been named three times in the top ten sports photographers in Asia by the AIPS Sports Media Awards, was a finalist in the World Sports Photography Awards in 2022, and her photo of Iranian women watching football in the same stadium as men in 2019 was a finalist in the Photography 4 Humanity global prize in 2020.

Maryam told the story of an Afghan girls football team in Iran and the Iranian national women’s football team.

Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your football life?

My name is Maryam Majd. I am 34 years old and I have been a sports photographer since 2006. My main focus is on women's sports in Iran and the Middle East. Football has been important for me since childhood. My father was a goalkeeper when he was young. One of the most beautiful things in my life was an album of newspapers that featured photos of my father and his team.

My brother loved football. As children, we used to play soccer in the backyard and we always watched football together at home. My brother could play football in the street where we lived. But my sisters and I and the girls of the neighbors were not even allowed to watch the boys play football, let alone play with boys, because we were girls. At that time, it was not common for boys and girls to play together.

My brother was a crazy fan of the Italian national team and Roberto Baggio. In those years, the early years of the Iranian revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, there was neither internet nor satellite in Iran. My brother used to follow football matches through the radio. The sound of the stadium on the radio was always played louder than the TV in our house.

Years later, when I was growing up, Iranian television started to show football. At the age of 10, I started making albums for Iranian football players. I would cut from newspapers or collect pictures from chewing gum. I was always interested in the photos that were published in the newspapers and magazines. Football was an integral part of our lives.

Football has always been an inner feeling for me. Capturing football moments, both in victories and defeats, is always the most beautiful and meaningful thing as a sports photographer.

Who is in the photos? Where were the photos taken?

Due to its border with Afghanistan, many immigrants have entered Iran illegally since the beginning of the war. After Pakistan, Iran is the country with the largest number of Afghan refugees. During a trip to Kabul in 2019, I reported on Afghan women's sports there. I went to the Afghan women's national football team camp and talked to the players. I found out that in Iran, there are Afghan girls football players who are active but no one has supported them

After the 2021 fall of the Afghan government and the rise of the Taliban and the tragedy that befell Afghan women, their national women's teams were disbanded. I decided to find the Afghan immigrant girls football team in Iran.

In the photos, you see ‌girls who either emigrated to Iran or were born to parents who came to Iran years ago. Some of them have never seen Afghanistan or do not even have a birth certificate.

This team was created by Fariba, who is 29 years old and was born and raised in Iran. She wants to remind Afghan migrant women of life for an hour. She does not just practice football with them here. This is where she has to remind them that nothing is over for them and they have to go ahead and fight as usual. These girls are the ones who did not give up sports in the midst of attacks and bombings.

Even today, if they are far from home and have no hope for sports in Afghanistan, they can still have hope of one day being able to wear their national team uniform. They train and fight and do not forget their dreams. Even if they ask their head coach every day what the future will hold for them.

Sport in Afghanistan means when you train with your teammates on artificial turf, NATO helicopters dance over your head and commandos watch the training, but you hit the ball harder each time. In my opinion, they are like the seeds of a plant that will grow anywhere in the world.

These girls live in the suburbs of Tehran. But they always reach the soccer field so that their training does not stop. Training grounds and gyms for immigrants in Tehran are like the lives of the homeless. Where they practice today will not be where they can go tomorrow. They will never have a fixed place to practice.

This was Harandi Stadium on the outskirts of southern Tehran. When you step outside the stadium you can see the syringes of addicts who live around it and the homeless people living in that area.

I also showed the Iranian women’s national football team in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2021. The Iranian women's national football team was finally reformed after two years of absence. The team had been removed from the FIFA rankings, but the girls went to Uzbekistan for the Asian Cup.

The pitch was at Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where they made history. The Iranian women's national football team reached the qualifying round of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023, for the first time in the history of Iranian women's football.

Men and boys could easily stand and look at the ground where they were training - a right that has been taken from the fathers, brothers, and male coaches of women's teams in Iran. When they have a match, no man is allowed to approach the women's competition venue, and women in Iran are not allowed to enter the stadium to watch the men's team match.

What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?

Women in sports are still reported differently than men in sports. I consider photojournalism as an aid for the recognition of women athletes. This is an issue for women around the world. The situation of Afghan women footballers is even worse than Iranian women due to cultural similarities. If we talk about gender discrimination due to the conditions of society, war, and destruction, Afghan women may be at the top.

Afghan immigrant women footballers in Iran may not have the freedom they seek, but at least they are in a situation where the seeds of hope have been sown. I am committed to showing their efforts. Every time they finish training, they circle around and put the Afghan flag on their shoulders.

Are there any good stories connected with the people you photographed?

Zahra was born in Iran and has never seen Afghanistan. She works and studies quietly because she is not allowed to go to school, according to the laws for illegal immigrants in Iran. She travels a long way from the farthest point of Tehran to the football camp. Her dream is to become a member of the national football team one day.

What are the opportunities for women’s footballers in football in Iran? (for both Iranian women and Afghan refugees)

To be honest, women's football in Iran always stops at one point. Because it has never been a priority and if there is no FIFA pressure on the Iranian Football Federation, there would never be a women's football team. By law, every country that has a men's soccer team must have a women's soccer team.

In recent years, the Iranian women's national football team was suspended and even removed from the FIFA rankings. And if it were not for FIFA pressure, the Iranian women's national football team would not have been formed again. In fact, women's football in Iran is like a shadow. It is always located just at the end of the road. Their idea is: it is enough to have a women's team, and nothing more!

In 2021, the Iranian women's national football team made history and qualified to participate in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers. Months passed since they reached the important preliminary stage, but they had been left alone and not supported with any friendly matches. So, we saw a very poor performance during the AFC Women's Championship India 2022, because they had not played a single friendly match.

Iranian women’s soccer players are very capable and smart and have high physical strength and technique, but there is a problem called ‘not being seen’. The federation prefers to pay for the men. From having foreign coaches, good facilities, and holding overseas games. The women’s share in all these opportunities is nothing. Even holding international workshops and inviting top coaching instructors from abroad could raise the level of girls' soccer players. 

Perhaps the only opportunity they have will be with the help of their Instagram pages to attract followers to see their photos and videos. As a result, their media and their voice are just themselves.

The situation of Afghan refugees is much more difficult. However, earlier this year the Vahdat girls' team, which is the only Afghan refugee team, was able to get permission to participate in the Iranian Women's Football League matches and compete with other teams for the first time.

How has Covid-19 affected football in your community?

A few months before the Covid epidemic around the world, the issue of women attending football stadiums was being pursued with the support of FIFA. Iranian women were waiting to go to the stadium for the World Cup qualifiers. 

Covid led to a halt in the status of women in stadiums for two years, and the government had a good excuse not to answer this issue. Covid is now given as the reason for the absence of women in stadiums. We might consider it a joke that those women are supposed to be the source of the return of Covid. During the pandemic, the national and club players were left to fend for themselves. The gyms were closed and they had no place to train or even have a coach. They were in really difficult conditions.

What role does football play in your community and Iranian society?

Football is a social identity. Football is a phenomenon that will never end. In today's societies, a team or individual can be the symbol of a country. In Iran, football is one of the most influential disciplines in all walks of life for men and women, old and young. This is not a propaganda issue but a process that is the product of many years. Football is now a single language at the international level and key to national pride.

Women are not allowed to attend or watch football directly in stadiums. After the Iranian Revolution of 1978, and following the mandatory hijab and the consequent gender segregation of some social spaces, women were not allowed to enter the stadiums. Despite the lack of a legal ban, women were implicitly barred from attending the stadiums.

Women's support for football and their interest in attending matches in the stadium is an issue that has been heard more and more in recent years with the help of the media.

Stadiums and football fans are often the home of slogans and social demands. In Iran, due to the absence of women in the stadium, one girl who was a fan of Esteghlal FC (one of the famous clubs in Iran) entered the stadium secretly and later had problems, committed suicide. She was known as the Blue Girl, and after that, even during Esteghlal celebrations, the male fans in the stadium honored her memory and left a seat on the podium with her name.

Of course, in the patriarchal society of Iran, football is no exception, but the most important point is that football and fans know no borders. Female football fans are forced to support from inside the home.

What are your ambitions for the future?  

My first wish is to have peace and to get away from any fear that wants to ruin my future. I miss the good days of my youth because of struggling with the conditions of my community and the problems I face. I never thought I would suffer so much to achieve the dreams I have in mind. For my professional career, I can boldly say that I am the first female sports photographer in Iran, who did not spare any effort for Iranian female athletes. 

I have been doing sports photography professionally for 17 years. Women’s soccer players in countries such as Iran are less represented in the media and it is my duty as a photographer to put their photos like a mirror in front of them. Women in countries like ours should not be afraid of showing their activities, and they should feel powerful to continue the path they chose.

I deeply believe that media and photography are important tools to strengthen the attitude of women towards combating injustice. I aim to bring the voice of my country's women to the world. I wish I could go to the world's major sporting events and have a sponsor or support from any media. In all my professional years, I always paid for my travels and paid a lot to achieve my goals.

I hope one day to be a photographer with an organisation who will support me to cover important competitions such as the World Cup and the Olympics, support my sports documentary projects, and buy my photos. I want to be able to go to other countries to teach photography to women and girls.

I think the world today is the world of images. Photography is the only medium that has a common language. Perhaps it would be the chance to bring their voices to the world by empowering girls interested in photography.

What is the future for Iranian (and Afghan refugee) women's football?

Everything is different in my country. It is not one person who decides on women's football. There are groups that are not from the football family, but they are the final decision-makers. I really do not see a good future for Iranian women's football. Iran will have a team, but like a shadow in the corner!

What can be said about Afghan refugees in Iran when the situation of Iranian women's football is ambiguous and full of question marks?

We have a good women's football league with very talented and capable players. That is enough for them and it will not go beyond that. Obviously it is good news that the Afghan female refugee team received a permit to participate in the Iranian Women's Football League. But there are important questions about the future:

Can foreign NGOs working in women's soccer operate in Iran? Can the Iranian team play friendly games? Can they hold useful workshops for coaches? Can they identify talent and introduce them to big teams?

The answer to all these questions is currently “No”! 

Series edited by Emma Walley.