Last year, Iran made history when as many as 3,500 female football fans were allowed to enter the Azadi Stadium in Tehran for a World Cup qualifier. This was the first time Iran had allowed women to watch a sports event since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

A year later, the Middle Eastern nation has once again made headlines worldwide but for a wrong reason. Iran's sole female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh has announced that she is defecting to Europe. Alizadeh, who became the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal by bagging a bronze in the 57kg category of Taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics, citing the "hypocrisy" of a system she claims humiliates athletes while using them for political ends.