Iranian female football star banned from travelling by husband

An Iranian women s football team will be minus its captain at the Asian championship in Malaysia next week after her husband invoked his right under Islamic law to bar her from travelling.

Niloufar Ardalan, 30, will not travel with her teammates to the Asian Football Federation Women’s Futsal Championship because her husband is said to be refusing to let her leave the country.

The 30-year-old Ardalan who has captained Iran’s national Women’s Soccer team was all set to participate in the indoor version of soccer where each team fields five players.

“My husband didn’t give me my passport so that I can (take part) in the games, and because of his opposition to my travel abroad, I [will] miss the matches”. She wrote: “I am only a national soldier who fights to raise the flag of our country”.

Although Hassan Rouhani has served as the current Iranian president since 2013, he has not brought about any changes in the law yet, despite the fact that in 2012 lawmakers in Iran were actually considering altering the legislation hindering women’s mobility. Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, a former reformist MP and famous revolutionary in 1979, said on Instagram: “What is her crime?”

This case has sparked debate in Iran, with some people saying it’s a personal family issue that should have been kept private, while others are questioning the rights of women around the world.

According to Iranian media, Ardalan said her passport expired and that her husband – sports journalist Mehdi Toutounchi – will not sign the paperwork necessary to renew it.

Shadi Sadr, a prominent Iranian women’s rights advocate and the director of the London-based rights group Justice For Iran, told the website RFE/RL that Ardalan’s decision to speak out was bold and that she speaks for thousands of Iranian women facing the same plight. But others sympathise with the footballer, with one writing: “This is really awful”. “A solution is found for them, and something should be done for women as well”. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.