I grew up in the Iranian city of Shiraz after the 1979 revolution. Girls like me were barred from going to stadiums to watch sports because, our religious leaders said, it would be an improper mixing of men and women. Still, I grew up loving soccer. I would watch matches on television with my family, cheering on our favorite teams and players.

My brother Masoud is a gifted player and became Iran’s national-team captain. He has played in three FIFA World Cups. But my mother, sister and I have never seen a game in our home country. My mother has never had a chance for her heart to swell with pride as her son scored a goal, nor could I ever have cheered him on while I was living in Iran.

Iran’s exclusion of its 41 million women from sports stadiums for the past 40 years has led women and girls to risk jail and even their lives to challenge the ban. That could all change this month.

After our years of fighting for this fundamental right, we have finally gotten the leaders of FIFA, the governing body that oversees all soccer, to start upholding its own rules prohibiting this discrimination. On Thursday, for the first time, some women will be able to buy tickets and sit in Iran’s largest stadium, Azadi.