Tehran: The captain of the Iranian national women's soccer team, Niloufar Ardalan, said she will not be able to compete in the upcoming Asian Football Confederation women's championship in futsal to be held in the Malaysian town of Nilai from September 21-26.

Reason: Her husband has refused to grant her permission to travel abroad as required by Islamic laws enforced in Iran.

Niloufar is regarded as one of Iran's best woman soccer players and known as 'Lady Goal' for her on-field exploits in international women's Islamic tournaments. The 30-year-old midfielder has captained Iran's national team and was set to compete in the futsal event, an indoor version of soccer in which each team fields five players.

Niloufar posted a message on her Instagram account, saying she wanted Iranian law changed so as to allow women travel without their husband's consent. She wrote: "I am only a national soldier who fights to raise the flag of our country."

In Iran, however, married women need the consent of their husbands to leave the country and can be banned from travelling abroad if their spouses do not sign the paperwork needed to obtain or renew a passport.

According to Niloufar, her husband Mehdi Toutounchi, a sports journalist and television presenter, has used this authority to prevent her from competing in the upcoming tournament because he does not want her to miss the first day of school for her their seven-year-old son on September 23.

The frustrated soccer star says she had trained hard for weeks to compete in the games and make her country proud. "But my husband didn't give me my passport so that I can participate in the games and because of his opposition to my travelling abroad, I will miss the matches," Niloufar said in an interview to an Iranian website.

In another interview to a news portal that promotes participation in sports by Muslim women, Niloufar said that her passport had expired and her husband had refused to sign a form required for its renewal. "I wish authorities would create measures that would allow female athletes to defend their rights in such situations."

"These games were very important to me. As a Muslim woman, I wanted to work for my country's flag to be raised at the event, rather than travelling for leisure and fun."

Niloufar has said that she will pursue the case through women's rights groups. "Boys have the issue of military service (which prevents those who haven't completed their compulsory service from travelling abroad). A solution is found for them, so something should be done for women as well," she said.

"What is the difference between us?" she added.

So far, there has not been any public comment from Niloufar's husband who, according to Iranian media, has been supportive of women's soccer in the past.

Shadi Sadr, a prominent Iranian women's rights advocate and the director of the London-based rights group Justice For Iran, says the case demonstrates the need to change the travel law, which she says affects tens of thousands of Iranian women.

"This just shows to what extent this law can impact a woman's life," Sadr was quoted as saying. (Agencies)