Iranian football star barred from travelling to tournament by her husband

Iran’s women’s team football captain will not be representing her country at the Futsal Asian Cup this year. Why? Because her husband has refused to give her permission to renew her passport.

Despite this being the 21st century, Iran still has an archaic law that requires married women to get permission from their husband if they want to travel outside the country.

So Iran’s most talented footballer, Niloufar Ardalan, 30, will not be able to join her teammates for the AFC Women’s Futsal Championship, the most important tournament in her 19-year career as a footballer,  reports The Guardian

Ardalan told Shirzanan Global , a news outlet that promotes participation in sports by female Muslims, that her passport had expired and her husband had refused to sign the paperwork needed to renew. Toutounchi reportedly wants his wife home for their 7-year-old son’s first day of school on September 23.

Speaking out against her predicament Ardalan told Nasimonline.ir , “I wish authorities would create [measures> that would allow female athletes to defend their rights in such situations.”

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Ardalan said foreign media was exaggerating her case, but also acknowledged she would be missing the tournament. She also made a call for Iran to change its laws governing married women’s travel.

“I am only a national soldier who fights to raise flag of our country,” she wrote. “I wish a law would be approved that allows female soldiers to fight for raising the flag.”

The dilemma of Ardalan, known by the nickname “Lady Goal,” has sparked social media chatter across Iran, with many demanding she be allowed to travel and play.

Ardalan’s decision to go public with her husband’s travel ban has resulted in several debates across social media with a split in opinions from outrage about Ardalan making her domestic dispute public to cries for change in the Islamic law.

Iranian cartoonists have been quick to take on Ardalan’s case. Shahrokh Heydari depicted her playing in the field with one of her legs chained, while Mana Neyestani shows her playing in a football match with her husband on the sidelines calling her to return home .

Ardalan was interviewed by the Guardian in 2005 after she and teammates in Iran’s women’s indoor league persuaded the country’s football federation to let them attend a match at Tehran’s majestic Azadi stadium for the first time.

Iran though it allows it’s women to play the sport, does not allow it’s women to watch it . The issue already has garnered worldwide attention on Iran with the detention of a British-Iranian woman trying to attend a men’s match  last year.

Women’s sports largely disappeared after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over time, however, they have gained popularity, especially soccer. Social customs still come into the game though, as the country’s soccer team plays its games with players’ hair covered by hijabs, reports AP.

Two Islamic countries make the headscarf mandatory for women in public — Iran and Saudi Arabia. FIFA overturned a yearlong ban against players wearing hijabs in 2012.