(Patria) – A female football fan from Iran who was arrested when she tried to enter a stadium disguised as a man to watch her favourite team's match has died from burns she inflicted on herself out of fear of a prison sentence.

Sahar Khodayari set herself on fire outside a court in Tehran last week after learning she would serve a six-month prison sentence for attempting to enter Azadi Stadium.

Khodayari was stopped at the entrance of the stadium where a Champions League match between Iran's Esteghlal and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates was about to begin.

She was rushed to hospital but died from severe injuries.

Since there are no written laws in Iran banning women from entering stadiums, Khodayari was charged with violating Islamic law on wearing the hijab.

A member of the Iranian OpenStadiums movement, which fights for the right of Iranian women to attend matches at stadiums, says the problem is that there are no written laws banning women from entering stadiums – because if there were, 'we could campaign against it'.

- Instead, we are still paying the price for a decades-old religious argument that the atmosphere at stadiums is not suitable for women, and that women are somehow responsible for the inappropriate language and behaviour of men, claims one of the movement's members.

However, this was not always the case; BBC World Service journalist Ali Hamedani shared photos of the Iranian national women's swimming team originally published in Majaleh Zanen magazine before the 1979 revolution. The women's team was photographed at the same Azadi Stadium where women are now denied access, reports Euronews.