Niloofar Ardalan (born 29 May 1985), also known as Niloofar Ardallani,
is an Iranian coach and former player of
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and
futsal Futsal is a football-based game played on a hardcourt, hard court smaller than a football pitch, and mainly indoors. It has similarities to five-a-side football and Indoor soccer, indoor football.
Futsal is played between two teams of five players ...
who played in the
Iranian women's national football team and the
Iranian women's national futsal team and was captain in both teams. She played for the
Rah Ahan Football Club team as well as the Futsal Clubs teams of Tejarat Khane Bandar Abbas,
Persepolis
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, and the
Islamic Azad University
The Islamic Azad University (IAU; fa, دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی, ''Dāneshgāh-e Āzād-e Eslāmi'') is a private university system headquartered in Tehran, Iran. It is one of the largest comprehensive systems of universities, colleg ...
of Tehran.
In the Iranian women's national futsal team's trip to the
2015 AFC Women's Futsal Championship, she encountered her husband's opposition for travel and missed the opportunity to accompany the national team in the tournament. This turned into a controversial topic by the media. With numerous follow-ups and finally ordered a permit by the Iranian Attorney General, Ardalan managed to travel with the national team to the
2015 Women's World Futsal Championship in Guatemala.
During her playtime in the
Iranian Women's Futsal League, Ardalan won five championships. In 2017, Ardalan retired as a player and officially entered the field of coaching.
Personal life
She is the daughter of Esmail Ardalan, the former goalkeeper of the
Ekbatan Football Club (Tehran). She was born in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
and lives in this city and has a sister. Her husband, Mehdi Toutounchi, was the host of a sports entertainment program (Lezatefootball (The Pleasure of Football)) on the
IRIB Varzesh
IRIB Varzesh ( fa, شبکه ورزش en, Sports channel, ''Shibkâh-e Vârzesh'') is a national sports TV channel in Iran which was launched on July 18, 2012 and is the fifth Iranian television channel to broadcast in digital mode and the second ...
(national sports TV channel). After being forbidden by her husband from leaving the country to attend the
2015 Asian Cup in Malaysia, Ardalan filed for divorce, and the divorce was eventually granted. Ardalan went to court, and the judge allowed her to go to the
World Tournament, held in
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. In 2015, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women. Ardalan has a son named as Radan.
Club career
Rah Ahan Tehran Football Club
Niloofar Ardalan began her professional football career at the
Rah Ahan Tehran F.C.
Bandar Abbas Tejarat Khane Futsal Club
The first club experience in futsal of Niloofar Ardalan occurred in Bandar Abbas. Following her shining and starry times in the football arena, she decided to start playing in futsal clubs. In the first step, she came to an agreement with the managers of Bandar Abbas Tejarat Khane F.S.C. to officially start her futsal activity. The presence of
Shahrzad Mozaffar, the head coach of Iran Futsal, in this team and the stars who were determined to make history for Iranian women's futsal at the national levels, encouraged and persuaded Ardalan to reach an agreement with this team from Hormozgan Province.
She played two seasons in this team, and won the championship of the
Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League.
Persepolis Tehran F.S.C.
From her childhood, Ardalan had a special interest in
Persepolis
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, alternate_name =
, image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.
, map =
, map_type ...
and ultimately she succeeded to realize her childhood dream in the early 2010s. In the short time that Persepolis Club entered the field of team management in women's futsal, she played with the Persepolis shirt for three seasons. Although she failed to win the league championship title with the Persepolis team, she won the runner-up title and third place in the league during her time with the Reds to continue her good days in futsal, and at the same time, she turned into one of the key members of the
Iranian women's national futsal team.
The Islamic Azad University of Tehran F.S.C.
The presence of Shahrzad Mozaffar, the successful head coach of the Iranian women's national futsal team, and no restriction on employing national players in a Premier League team gave an opportunity to Ardalan to cooperate with Muzaffar in the club arena. She played for the Islamic Azad University of Tehran F.S.C. along with stars such as
Fereshteh Karimi
Fereshteh Karimi is an Iranian women's futsal player currently playing for Azad University in Iran. She was chosen as one of the top 10 nominees for the best woman player in the world in 2013 by the futsalplanet website.
In September 2015 she ...
.
International career
Ardalan participated in the
Asian Indoor Tournament hosted by South Korea in 2012 with the
Iran women's national futsal team
The Iran women's national futsal team represents Iran in international women's futsal, and is controlled by the Iran Football Federation.
Results and fixtures
2023
Players
Current squad
* Farzaneh Tavasoli ('' captain'')
* Nasi ...
. In that tournament, the Iranian women's national futsal team won the runner-up title.
She participated in two tournaments of the
World Women's Futsal Championship, with the Iranian national women's futsal team. In the
2012 Women's Futsal World Tournament
The 2012 Women's Futsal World Tournament was the third edition of the Women's Futsal World Tournament, the premier world championship for women's national futsal teams. It was held in Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal, from 3 to 9 December 2012, and m ...
, the Iranian national team reached seventh place, and in the 2013 World Futsal Championship in Spain, the Iranian national team stood in fifth place in the world.
Winning the runner-up position with the Iranian women's national football team in the
West Asian women's soccer tournament hosted by Jordan, the seventh place in the
World Student Football Tournament hosted by Brazil, and the seventh place in the Women's Futsal World Cup hosted by Guatemala can be mentioned as other valuable honors of Niloofar Ardalan in her time at the national level, which are gained in both football and futsal fields. Ardalan has had a shining and tangible role in gaining these great national achievements as well.
International goals
Retirement
After Niloofar Ardalan could not accompany the Iranian women's national futsal team to the
2015 Asian Cup in Malaysia due to her husband's opposition to her travel, she stopped playing and began a coaching career. At that time, the interference of different bodies with the issue and supporting her and solving Ardalan's problem for the trip to the World Futsal Championship in Guatemala in 2017, persuaded her to temporarily leave the decision to say goodbye; however, at the end of 2017, she went low-key after her decision for leaving the world of football and futsal as a player and began her career in the field of coaching.
Managerial career
The beginning of coaching in football
She was one of the figures who entered the pool of coaches so soon after leaving her player career and began her efforts to take and pass coaching classes. Ardalan managed pretty soon to climb the coaching promotion ladder in both football and futsal fields. Accordingly, she obtained the A Asian Football Coach Certificate and the Asian Futsal Level 1 Coaching Certificate. Like her career as a player, she began her profession as a coach in football. Working as a coach and assistant in the
Iranian women's under-14 national football team was her first football experience as a coach. In the
Central Asian Women's Football Association Tournament (CAFA), she could win the first honor of her coaching career with the young national player girls as the Iranian team gained in third place.
Ardalan started work as a coach in the
Iranian women's under-16 national football team. With this team, she attended the Central Asian Women's Football Association Tournament (CAFA) and the Iranian girls became the runner-up team this time.
Futsal coaching
The shining and successful start at coaching in football brought several offers to Ardalan for continuing her work in the field of coaching. Ultimately, she decided to pursue her career in the
Saipa women's futsal team and officially took a step in her first head coaching experience, which was prominently successful and led her to win the runner-up title in her first year of presence in the
Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League as a head coach, while she lost the championship cup in the final match.
After spending a successful half-season in Saipa, an offer was made by the
Iranian Football Federation
The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Formed ...
at the same time of working as the head coach of the Saipa club to work as the head coach of
Iran's national women's under-20 futsal team; Niloofar Ardalan welcomed this opportunity and her first cup was won in the role of the head coach with the Iranian women's under-20 national futsal team in the C
entral Asian Women's Futsal Tournament.
Academic activities and sports talent detection
After the end of the 2019–2020 season, Niloofar Ardalan decided to leave Saipa and the conditions of the
Coronavirus pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
made the closure of the national team camps. This event led Ardalan, considered the founder of the first permanent women's football academy in Iran, to invest the majority of her activities in the area of the academy and seek to discover new talents.
However, Ardalan had received an offer to continue her career in coaching abroad and had initiated negotiations with the officials of the Kuwaiti Al-Arabi team. But this transfer did not happen due to the conditions caused by the corona pandemic and she could not follow her job as a Legionnaire head coach.
Controversial events
After the occurrence of controversial events for Niloofar Ardalan in leaving the country with the Iranian women's national futsal team and her husband's refusal to allow her to leave the country, many domestic and foreign press and media dramatically focused on this issue and scrutinized it. Meanwhile, the relevant bodies and agencies took action with the follow-ups by the
Football Federation so that Ardalan could accompany the national team in the next tournaments. Also in 2017, the movie "
Cold Sweat
"Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written with his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a No. 1 R&B hit, and rea ...
", directed and written by
Soheil Beiraghi
Soheil Beiraghi (Persian: سهیل بیرقی; born October 16, 1986, in Shahreza, Iran) is an Iranian independent film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed the award-winning films I (''Me)'', ''Cold Sweat'' and ''Popular'' . He ...
, was made based on the story and events that happened to Niloofar Ardalan, which was also screened at the
36th Fajr Film Festival.
Baran Kowsari, who played a role similar to Niloofar Ardalan, could win the honorary diploma of the best actress of the festival.
The history is repeated after 6 years
After what happened to Niloofar Ardalan on her trip to the AFC Asian Cup in Malaysia, in early 2021,
Samira Zargari, the head coach of the
Iranian Alpine Ski Team, realized that she has been banned from leaving Iran by her husband and is not allowed to leave Iran with the Iran national team to attend the World Championship in Italy. This issue caused the issue of Niloofar Ardalan's exit ban to be raised again in the media after 6 years and come to the focus of attention in the press. At the same time, Ardalan also supported Zargari in the matter and posted some messages on her personal page pointing out the legal weaknesses concerning women's rights.
Media activities
Outside the football environment, Niloofar Ardalan pursued some activities in the field of media as well. She attended as an expert and referee in the first episode of Ms. Reporter Show, which was hosted by the Tamasha website and supported by the
Varzesh3 news website. In addition, she experienced a short-term presence as a presenter in the
IRIB TV2
IRIB TV2 ( fa, شبكه دو, ''Shabakeh-ye Do'', lit. Channel 2) is one of the 40 national television channels in Iran. It broadcasts to the Persian-speaking areas of the Middle East and is headquartered in Tehran.
The Islamic Republic of Iran ...
and the ''
Varzesh Az Negah 2'' TV Show to do some activities in the media space as well.
Honours
Player
Club
* Winning the
Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League with Bandar Abbas Tejarat Khane Futsal Club
* Winning the
Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League with The Islamic Azad University of Tehran F.S.C.
* Third place in the
women's soccer competitions of Islamic countries with the
Rah Ahan Tehran F.C.
National
* Runner-up in
2007 WAFF Women's Championship
The 2007 West Asian Football Federation Women's Championship was held in Amman, Jordan. It was the second West Asian Football Federation
The West Asian Football Federation (WAFF; ar, اتحاد غرب آسيا لكرة القدم, Ittiḥād ...
(hosted by
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
)
* 7th place in the
World Student Football Tournament (hosted by
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
)
* Runner-up in the
2012 Asian Women's Futsal Championship (hosted by
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
)
* Seventh place in the
2012 Women's Futsal World Tournament
The 2012 Women's Futsal World Tournament was the third edition of the Women's Futsal World Tournament, the premier world championship for women's national futsal teams. It was held in Oliveira de Azeméis, Portugal, from 3 to 9 December 2012, and m ...
(hosted by
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
)
* Fifth place in the
2013 Women's Futsal World Tournament (hosted by
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
)
* Seventh place in the
2015 Women's Futsal World Cup (hosted by
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
)
Coaching
Club
* Winning the
Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League 2021 Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League 2021 The 17th season of the Women's Futsal Premier League is the highest level of the Iranian Women's Futsal Premier League, which started with the presence of 14 teams on November 28, 2021, by the decision of t ...
with
Peykan Tehran
* Winning the
Iranian Women's Futsal Super league 2022
Iranian may refer to:
* Iran, a sovereign state
* Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran
* Iranian lan ...
with
Peykan Tehran
National
* Winning the
Cafa Women's Futsal Championship with the
Iranian Women's Under-20 National Futsal Team
References
External links
Niloofar Ardalanon
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
Niloofar Ardalanon
Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
Niloofar Ardalanon
twitter
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ardalan, Niloufar
1985 births
Living people
Iranian women's footballers
Iranian women's futsal players
Iran women's international footballers
Women's association football midfielders
Footballers from Tehran