Political Conflict over Womens’ Necks:

The Uniform Question of the Iranian Women Football Team

Abstract

　In Iran, the so-called modernists argued that “a sound mind lives in a sound body” and led to the modernization policies including physical education for girls and other gender policies under the Pahlavi regime. Sports for women were thought to be necessary for the construction of a sound society and for the preservation of healthy families, though the notions of vulnerable bodies and the domestic character of women have still been maintained.
　Islamic revival in many Muslim countries has been underway since the 1970s, and in Iran an Islamic regime was established. Islamic Revivalism reflects on the modernization policies and seeks for their own guideline of gender equality. A female politician of the Islamic Republic of Iran Faezeh Hashemi founded the “Islamic Federation of Women Sports,” and has held quadrennial Muslim Women’s Games.
　While the issues mandated by Islam such as the separation of sexes and veiling were highly politicized in Iran, Islamic veiling in public came to be problematized in European countries such as France. In that circumstance the veiling issue for Muslim women athletes were brought to the surface. The Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) possible compromise was to allow the players wear caps, which would show the nape of the women’s necks, but the Physical Education Association of Iran disapproved of such caps. It was highly concerned that the Iranian girls’ football team would not take part in the Youth Olympic games in 2010 August due to the lack of a “proper” uniform. The case highlights how the sociopolitical circumstances of sports organs exert influence on the condition of international game participation.