At first glance, the protests in Iran might not seem like a sports story. But in the lead up to the Qatar World Cup, there were calls to bar Iran from the tournament altogether, over the government’s treatment of women. Women in Iran have more rights than women in a place like Afghanistan. They have access to education. They can vote. They can be elected to Parliament. But they can’t choose whether or not to wear the hijab. And until recently, they couldn’t attend sporting events in person. That’s how sports and women’s rights came to be intertwined in Iran.