It was arguably one of the most significant items of sports news in all of 1997 and yet it went largely ignored by sports media worldwide. At first glance, it may not sound like much yet it could be the beginning of one of those not infrequent processes where sport acts as an agent for social change.

The revolutionary development in question is that the Islamic state of Iran has decided to allow women to attend soccer matches and also to form their own soccer clubs. To those in the west, it may not seem like much but for Iranian women it could prove to be one small but important step along the road to fuller participation in the country's social, economic and political life.

The motivation for this change, announced last week in Teheran by women's sports official and parliamentarian Faezeh Hashemi, is inevitably linked to Iran's surprise qualification for the World Cup finals next summer.

On the evening that Iran secured their place in France with a 2-2 draw in their return leg, playoff against Australia on November 29th, thousands of delighted Iranians, including chador-clad Iranian women, took to the streets to celebrate the event.

That Iranian women should take to the streets in celebration of any happening is extraordinary enough. That they did so to welcome Iranian participation at the next World Cup finals reflects a mood of populist celebration based not only on an enthusiasm for soccer but also on recent significant political changes in Iran. Lest there be any doubt about just exactly why Iran's World Cup qualification prompted such unprecedented scenes, the Teheran daily, Salaam, spelt it loud and clear: "These festive scenes were the first real public celebration of the Presidential victory of Mohammed Khatami".

For those not intimately familiar with Iranian politics, let me recall that last May, the 55-yearold Shi'ite Muslim cleric Khatami was a runaway winner of the Iranian presidential elections despite the fact that his rival, Nateq Nouri, had the full and explicit backing of the Ayatollah Ali Khameni, the country's supreme leader. In Iranian terms, President Khatami is a "moderate" not much liked by the country's repressive religious establishment. Only last week, President Khatami underlined his relative moderation when calling for "a thoughtful dialogue with the American people", a call far removed from the fiercely anti-western tones of the Ayatollah Khameni and his celebrated predecessor, the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Thanks to that World Cup qualification, of course, President Khatami and Iranians will get an early opportunity to enter a sort of dialogue with the US in France next summer when Iran line out to play the USA in a Group F game in in Lyons on June 21st. The last time Iran played in the finals was in 1978 in Argentina, just months before the 1979 Islamic revolution which finally overthrew the Shah of Iran.

Iran's only bright moment in Argentina came with a never-to-be-forgotten 1-1 draw in the first round with Scotland, then under the quixotic management of Aly MaCleod.

That bright moment preceded a period of isolation since the Ayatollahs have never looked on soccer with enthusiasm, believing that the world's number one game is especially subject to the corrupting influences of western capitalism (mind you, the mullahs might have a point). Such was the Ayatollahs' dismay at the unIslamic-type behaviour that the team's return from Australia was delayed so as to take the heat out of the celebrations.

Not that it made much difference since thousands of men and women still turned up at the Azadi Stadium to greet their heroes, with the women breaking through police cordons to defy the state prohibition on their presence in a soccer stadium (thus prompting last week's announcement of the end of the ban).

And for most of Iran's qualifying matches more than 100,000 fans turned up to watch their home games against such `giants' as The Maldives, Kirghizistan, Syria, China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Quatar, Japan and Australia.

In pure soccer terms, it is hard to assess the present side. Clearly, it is battle-tested and true. Clearly, too, players like Karim Bagheri and Ali Daei (both with Arminia Bielefeld in the Bundesliga) and Khodadad Azizi (Cologne) have gained experience at the highest level. Not for nothing was it that Azizi and Bagheria between them scored Iran's three goals in their aggregate 3-3 draw with Australia (1-1 in Tehran, 2-2 in Melbourne).

For the time being, the side is without a coach since the current man in charge, Brazilian Validir Vieira, is a recent short-term appointment. Dutchman Johann Cruyff and Argentinian Carlos Bilardo have been offered the job but both declined.

It could be that Vieira may well get to keep the job all the way through France '98. What is certain, however, is that Iran's presence in next summer's World Cup finals, regardless of results, is of huge significance.