Iranian TV reportedly cancels Bundesliga broadcast due to female referee

An Iranian TV network has reportedly cancelled a broadcast of Bayern Munich's win against Augsburg because the match was refereed by a woman.

Bibiana Steinhaus

Source: Bongarts

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB were due to show the crucial clash but pulled the plug when they discovered highly-touted German match official Bibiana Steinhaus was appointed to the fixture.

The broadcaster had shown European football fixtures all season but removed the program at short notice leaving Iranian fans disappointed.

It is understood that footage of women in any attire which is deemed too revealing, such as football shorts, is censored in Iran because it is an Islamic country.

It is not the first time Steinhaus, has been the centre of a gender controversy.

The 39-year-old was last year named as one of the best referees in Germany but she was still the target of regular criticism and abuse.

"I don't really like the gender topic when it comes to refereeing I understand that it's a topic for people around me," Steinhaus said.

"At the end of the day, the performance is what matters. And the person producing the best performance should be the person on the pitch, no matter what gender, what hair color, what religion.

"That's all that counts."


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1 min read
Published 18 February 2019 7:12pm
By SBS The World Game
Source: SBS

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