In September, Iranian football player Niloufar Ardalan, missed the final of the Asian Games in September because her husband, sports journalist Mahdi Toutounchi, enforced the right given to him by Islamic sharia law to prevent her from traveling.
But for a 2015 Futsal World Cup event in Guatemala this week, Iranian authorities overruled her husband’s wishes and granted Ardalan, whose nickname is “Lady Goal,” a single exit visa.
“Niloufar Ardalan, who after problems with her husband missed the Asian championship matches, left the country without gaining his consent,” the judiciary said on its news website, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
“This is really important and it shouldn’t be dismissed,” Shireen Ahmed, a football player, freelance sportswriter, and sports activist who blogs about Muslim women in sports, told ThinkProgress. “It’s a really, really big deal for women there.
“[Ardalan] is using sports as a vehicle to draw attention to women’s issues in that country,” she said. “This is a very powerful precedent that she is setting.”
The 30-year-old Ardalan is one of the stars of Iran’s futsal team, a fast-paced version of soccer played indoors with six players on each side. Iran’s team is very good — despite Ardalan’s absence, they won the Asian Games in September.
Female Soccer Captain Gets One-Time Exemption To Leave Iran Against Her Husband's Wishes | ThinkProgress
But for a 2015 Futsal World Cup event in Guatemala this week, Iranian authorities overruled her husband’s wishes and granted Ardalan, whose nickname is “Lady Goal,” a single exit visa.
“Niloufar Ardalan, who after problems with her husband missed the Asian championship matches, left the country without gaining his consent,” the judiciary said on its news website, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
“This is really important and it shouldn’t be dismissed,” Shireen Ahmed, a football player, freelance sportswriter, and sports activist who blogs about Muslim women in sports, told ThinkProgress. “It’s a really, really big deal for women there.
“[Ardalan] is using sports as a vehicle to draw attention to women’s issues in that country,” she said. “This is a very powerful precedent that she is setting.”
The 30-year-old Ardalan is one of the stars of Iran’s futsal team, a fast-paced version of soccer played indoors with six players on each side. Iran’s team is very good — despite Ardalan’s absence, they won the Asian Games in September.
Female Soccer Captain Gets One-Time Exemption To Leave Iran Against Her Husband's Wishes | ThinkProgress
