Iran TV blocks football with female referee

IRANIAN state television reportedly failed to broadcast a German top flight football match because the referee was a woman.

The Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and Augsburg was not shown because Bibiana Steinhaus, one of Germany’s top referees, was officiating, German press reported, citing Iranian media.

Strict rules in the Islamic Republic do not allow the broadcast of images of women showing large amounts of flesh. Ms Steinhaus’s football shorts are thought to have been too much for the religious censors.

Natalie Amiri, the Iran correspondent for German public broadcaster ARD, wrote on Twitter that the broadcast in Iran had been cancelled “at the last minute,” asking, “and who is responsible? Of course it’s Bibi again.”

Football is hugely popular in Iran and has become a cultural flashpoint for the country. The Iranian women’s football team play in hijabs, longsleeved shirts and trousers.

Iranian female football fans were allowed into the national stadium for the first time in 37 years during the World Cup in June last year after the government relaxed its ban on women at sporting events. Those rejecting mixed audiences have in the past said women should not be exposed to swearing fans and that police did not have enough female officers to provide security.

In Iran, film scenes showing women in what is deemed revealing clothing are censored. But this would have been impossible when broadcasting Friday’s match, as Steinhaus was continually visible, reports said.