{"id":1718,"date":"2021-02-19T20:50:22","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T20:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1718"},"modified":"2021-02-19T20:50:22","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T20:50:22","slug":"barred-from-travel-by-husband-iran-ski-coach-works-remotely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/?p=1718","title":{"rendered":"Barred from travel by husband, Iran ski coach works remotely"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran’s ski coach tells The Associated Press that her husband blocked her from traveling to the world championships in Italy because she wouldn’t consent to a divorce<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

Samira Zargari<\/p><\/div>\n

By ANDREW DAMPF AP Sports Writer- <\/strong>18 February 2021, CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — When the husband of\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u2019s Alpine ski team coach took advantage of a local law and barred his wife from leaving the country, Samira Zargari picked up her phone and continued coaching remotely.Zargari called her four racers three times Thursday while they competed in the women\u2019s giant slalom at the world championships in\u00a0Italy<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 before the race, between runs and after the event was finished.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways I (am) proud of all\u00a0Iran<\/a>ian girls,\u201d Zargari said in a text message exchange with The Associated Press. \u201cI love them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 37-year-old Zargari said that her husband is now in a relationship with her best friend and that he requested she consent to a divorce.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t and he blocked me,\u201d Zargari said, adding that her husband is \u201calways laughing (at) my job and my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple was together for five years, said Zargari, who was writing from the Shemshak ski resort. She said her husband was born in the United States and is a citizen of both the U.S. and Iran.<\/p>\n

Under Iranian law, husbands can stop their wives from traveling outside of the country.<\/p>\n

Zargari said she wanted to launch a \u201ccampaign\u201d to change the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so sad and I can\u2019t believe it,\u201d Zargari said, adding that she was seeking help from the International Ski Federation, which is known as FIS.<\/p>\n

The FIS said in a statement to the AP that it \u201csympathizes with any team member who is not able to travel to our world championships. However, FIS is also not in a position to dispute the laws of any given nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forough Abbasi, one of the skiers on Zargari\u2019s team, spoke out about her coach\u2019s plight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the first time,\u201d Abbasi said. \u201cWe had the same problem before this. But I wish we can change it \u2014 all the women in Iran, all together, I wish we could change it. We are trying. I\u2019m sure the strong women can for sure change these rules and she will be stronger than before. We are proud of her, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbasi finished nearly 25 seconds behind American favorite Mikaela Shiffrin, the first-run leader, but was pleased just to have completed her run.<\/p>\n

Abbasi said her coach is a \u201creally a strong woman\u201d and that she\u2019s \u201csure she can be more stronger from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zargari is not the first married athlete whose husband prevented her from leaving Iran. In 2015, soccer player Niloufar Ardalan missed the Asian Cup tournament in futsal \u2014 an indoor version of soccer \u2014 after her husband confiscated her passport in a domestic dispute.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s sports largely disappeared from Iran after the country\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Over time, however, they gained in popularity, especially soccer. Social customs still come into the game, though, as the country\u2019s soccer team plays its matches with players\u2019 hair covered by traditional headscarves, or hijabs.<\/p>\n

Two Islamic countries make the headscarf mandatory for women in public \u2014 Iran and Saudi Arabia. FIFA overturned a yearlong ban against players wearing hijabs in 2012.<\/p>\n

Abbasi \u2014 one of eight Iranians (four women and four men) competing in Cortina \u2014 said she is free to drive, travel, train and race in Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is free to us,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is some rules like this but it\u2019s not for everyone. In Iran maybe in a 1,000 women, one of them has a problem. \u2026 Even my coach. She\u2019s really a free woman. She was all over the world. She\u2019s traveling all the time. This time this happened. \u2026 But for sure it will be changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Abbasi said the government prevents her from taking on certain jobs and that she has to work as a ski instructor to support her skiing career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really want to stay in Iran and change the rules \u2014 change something that is stopping athletes, not just women,\u201d she said. \u201cThe boys can\u2019t buy equipment. It\u2019s the same for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zargari added that while the law enabling a husband to block his wife’s passport is a \u201cproblem,\u201d she still loves her country.<\/p>\n

Sarah Schleper, the former U.S. Ski Team racer who now represents Mexico, has gotten to know Zargari over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s easy going, just cares a lot about her kids, her athletes,\u201d Schleper said. \u201cShe\u2019s just like a normal girl, just looking to ski fast and do the best for her team.”<\/p>\n

Zargari coached Iran at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and last year\u2019s Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe these things have to happen so it really does change,\u201d Schleper added, pointing out how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world. \u201cWe are all kind of in it together. We are all here on earth. We\u2019ve got to do it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Iran’s ski coach tells The Associated Press that her husband blocked her from traveling to the world championships in Italy because she wouldn’t consent to a divorce By ANDREW DAMPF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[127,441,529],"class_list":["post-1718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women-kids","tag-iranian-women","tag-movement-of-iranian-women","tag-samira-zaragri"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1719,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1718\/revisions\/1719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iransos.com\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}