Muslim and Christian leaders in Oslo scrapped a soccer match aimed at fostering understanding between religions on Saturday after imams on the Muslim team refused to play a team that included women priests.

The imams said physical contact with women would be inappropriate, NRK public television said, and the Norwegian Christians refused a proposal of a male-only clash. The match was to have followed talks meant to build bridges between faiths in Norway.

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"Some say that bodily contact is the problem. It leads to special feelings that can lead to something forbidden," explained Imam Senaid Kobilica on NRK public television.

Priest Kjersti Oestland Tveit of Norway's Lutheran state church, who was part of the Christian team, said that barring women from the pitch would be discrimination.

"It's disappointing because it means deciding to sacrifice someone from one's own side - women, who historically are those who have had to give way," she said.

"It's a setback for sexual equality in 2007," she added.

Priest Oestland Tveit's objection prompted captain of the Christian team, Trond Bakkevig, to cancel the match. "There are both men and women priests in Oslo, and you can't have a dialogue in which everyone can take part and then have a game where only men are allowed," he said.