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Sep 2019
34m 30s

'Allow women into football stadiums'

Bbc World Service
About this episode

We remember Sahar Khodayari, a passionate supporter of the Iranian football team. Sahar fatally set herself alight in Tehran after her trial for attempting to enter a football stadium, disguised as a man, was postponed. Women in Iran have been stopped from going to stadiums to watch men’s sporting events since the 1980s. This caused a huge outpouring of emotion on social media using the hashtag "blue girl " - a reference to the colours of her favourite team Esteqlal. Maryam Shojaee is the sister of the national team captain Masoud. She's been campaigning tirelessly for the rule to be changed as she has been explaining to Shari.

Back in February, we spoke to the Jamaican distance runner Kemoy Campbell. Kemoy collapsed while competing at a meeting in New York. He was told by doctors that he actually died on the track. When we spoke to him then, he still hoped to continue his career. But seven months on, doctors have now instructed him to retire from the sport. Shari Vahl caught up with him again this week and he told us how painful it was to give up on his dream of competing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

It's billed as the pinnacle of women's golf. Every two years, the top players from Europe and the United States take to the greens for the Solheim Cup. This weekend, the US are aiming to make it a hat-trick of titles at Gleneagles in Scotland. 80,000 tickets have been sold across the three days - a record for the sport in this country. What does it take to win such an iconic event? Hear from American golfer Brittany Lincicome, who has won the event four times.

We also hear from Olympic sailor Hannah Mills, who explains why she is campaigning against plastic use in sport, and Paralympic swimming star Mallory Weggerman, who tells us she was close to quitting after suffering a freak injury back in 2014.

Picture: Banner arguing to allow women into stadiums in Iran (Credit: Getty Images)

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