Niloufar Ardalan criticizes Iranian restrictions against women's sports

Niloufar Ardalan condemns the restrictions against women's sports in Iran and says the restrictions caused Iranian female weightlifters Yekta Jamali and Prisa Jahanfkarian to seek asylum.

News Center - Niloufar Ardalan, Iranian coach and former player of football and futsal who played in the Iranian women's national football team and the Iranian women's national futsal team, posted a message on her Instagram page yesterday and said that the restrictions in Iran against women’s sport caused Iranian female weightlifters Yekta Jamali and Prisa Jahanfkarian to seek asylum.

"I want to talk about the problems I face, at least in my field,” Niloufar Ardalan says in her post drawing attention to the difficulties faced by Iranian women in sports.

“In Tehran, a few women can access the courts because there are protocols in this field,” she wrote, "Our aim is to develop women's football and increase women’s participation in sports across the country, but our main challenge is that all doors are closed for us in every field.”

In her post, she also stated that women submitted many projects to authorities but they were rejected for a variety of reasons, “Inequality causes women to leave the country.”

She concluded her message by saying, "As a person who has worked in this field as a football player and coach for years, I believe that if there was justice, equality, and opportunities, no one would leave their homeland or their life behind.”