Last week, a Saudi Arabian soccer team lost to rivals from the United Arab Emirates in the Asian Champions League semi-finals.

TV footage of the match, now on YouTube, shows something horrific. Here it is:

The BBC explains:

Following [a] tackle, the camera picks out an angry fan of the Saudi team — a woman fully covered in a black abaya and niqab. In Saudi Arabia itself, women are banned from attending football matches, but since the game was taking place in the UAE, this spectator — together with several other women cheering for [the] Saudi [players] … — were able to join their fellow male supporters in the stadium. Over 900 people have commented on the clip, most of them angry men, critical of the unidentified woman for being in a stadium filled with thousands of men. “Women aren’t interested in football, so why go to a stadium to watch a live match?” wrote one. “Does this woman not have a man? Her place is in the house,” said another. Many who oppose women being allowed into stadia say it encourages immoral and sinful behavior.

Luckily, Saudi bureaucrats are reportedly fighting for the right of women to be spectators at sporting events… cleverly employing segregation and gender apartheid.

Local newspaper reports in Saudi Arabia suggest the government is considering building separate sections in stadia for female spectators.

Long live progress!

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P.S. Free bonus video, courtesy of a Saudi cleric who lays out some of a woman’s most sacred obligations.