The Sunday Magazine
The Sunday Magazine
CBC
The world's game. The beautiful game. And in Iran, a game of political football
24 minutes Posted May 27, 2026 at 7:10 am.
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Her brother was the captain of Iran's national soccer team. But being a woman meant she wasn't allowed to watch him play in their home country. Maryam Shojaei spent years fighting to overturn Iran's ban on women in soccer stadiums – and faced arrest and intimidation along the way. The Iranian-Canadian activist joins Piya Chattopadhyay to share her journey, and what it’s like to see Iran scheduled to play in the FIFA World Cup while at war with one of the host countries.