Breaking Barriers: The First Female Football Reporter
In a groundbreaking moment for Iranian broadcasting, on September 17, 2004, Hashemi became the first Iranian woman to report live on a men’s football match. The match was between Esteghlal Tehran and Saba Battery, broadcast on Radio Javan’s sports program Gardesh Dar Vorze.
For a woman to enter this traditionally male-dominated space—both in sports journalism and in Iran’s strict gender-segregated environment—was a historic act of courage.
Reflecting on that moment, Hashemi once said:
“The idea of reporting on a football match is exciting, let alone having it happen in reality. This was very exciting for me too. I was able to do something completely different that no woman had ever had the chance to do before. But I must also say that I was really stressed at that moment… I was scared! Just thinking that I was the first person to report on a football match was stressful.”
Her honesty about her anxiety made her achievement even more relatable. It was not merely a professional triumph but also a symbolic breakthrough for Iranian women in media. For years afterward, she remained the only woman to have achieved that distinction.
