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Story highlights Iranian sports official: The ban will be lifted for some events in the coming year But he says "families are not interested in attending" some sports matches

But the situation appears set to improve in the coming months after a top Iranian sports official said that the ban will be lifted for some events.

A plan to allow "women and families" to enter sports stadiums will come into effect in the next year, Deputy Sports Minister Abdolhamid Ahmadi said Saturday, according to state-run media.

But it isn't clear exactly which games women will be able to attend.

Iranian supporters display a banner calling for an end to Iran's stadium ban on women during the Asian Cup quarterfinal in Canberra.

According to the state-run Press TV, Ahmadi said the restrictions would be lifted for indoor sports events. The rules won't change for all matches because some sports are mainly related to men and "families are not interested in attending" them, Press TV cited him as saying.

Iranian authorities imposed the ban on women attending men's sports events after the revolution, deeming that mixed crowds watching games together was un-Islamic.

During the ensuing decades, the crowds at soccer games, Iran's most popular sport, have been all male.

Iranian women were briefly permitted to attend volleyball matches under the moderate President Mohammad Khatami, but the ban was reinstated in 2005 after the more hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power.

The Iranian government has come under pressure from international sports officials over the restrictions.

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Iran to ease ban on women at sports events