Iran's traditional sports include wrestling, horse racing and bodybuilding. In the 20th century, team sports entered this country from the west, the most prominent of which are football, rugby and volleyball. During the previous royal rule, modern sports were included in school curricula. In 1948, Iranian athletes participated in the Olympic Games for the first time. Iran's first participation in the Winter Olympics was in 1956. Most of Iran's Olympic medals have been won in wrestling, weightlifting and martial arts. Iran is the birthplace of Pahlavi, Zorkhane and Polo (a matter of dispute with Azerbaijan). Polo was first played in Iran in the 6th century BC. appeared and gradually spread to Tibet, China, Japan, Arabia and India. Zorkhane sport and polo have been registered in the list of intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO in Iran.
Since the era of Pahlavi, football has become the most popular sport in Iran.
As a brilliant period, the Iranian national football team won the championship at the highest level of Asia in 1968, 1972, 1974 and 1976, and qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 1978. During this brilliant era, Taj football club also won the 1970 Asian Championship Club Championship. Some of these successes coincided with Iran hosting the highest sports competitions in Asia, and the hosting of the Asian Nations Cup in 1968 and 1976 are examples of that.
Before the revolution of 1979, the general policy of Iran encouraged the presence of women in sports. The photos of Iranian footballers, gymnasts, swimmers and other female athletes on the covers of women's and sports magazines of this era are a sign that one of the models of a victorious and successful woman was a female athlete. Sports had become a symbol of power and progress, and a female hero was considered a source of pride for the country. The first appearance of Iranian women in world competitions was at the 1958 Asian Games. The 1964 Tokyo Olympics became the first Olympics in which Iranian women participated. In 1966, significant global successes were achieved by women. Women's sports were of interest; In an example of football, which later became the most popular sport in Iran, the official history of women's football in Iran dates back to the 1940s. Taj Club was the pioneer of Iranian clubs in creating a girls' team, and a little later, Persepolis, Dayhim and Aqab Tehran were the first other clubs to form official women's teams. Club football competitions were intended for Iranian women on a par with men's.
Iran also hosted prominent international competitions. In one instance, Tehran became the first city in the Middle East to host the Asian Games. Tehran hosted the Asian Games in 1974, and at the same time, the Ariyamehr Sports Complex was opened on September 1, 1974 as one of the most advanced sports complexes of that time. From the point of view of the foundation, the Asian Handball Federation was officially established in Tehran in 1975