Iranian woman boxer 'prevented from returning home' following arrest warrant
Iranian woman boxer 'prevented from returning home' following arrest warrant
An Iranian woman boxer has cancelled her return home after Tehran authorities issued a warrant for her arrest.
2 min read
Sadaf Khadem is stranded in Paris [Getty]
An Iranian boxer is stranded in France, after authorities in Tehan issued a warrant for her arrest while she was out of the country.
Sadaf Khadem fought and beat Anne Chauvin in France on Saturday, but had reportedly violated Iran's strict dress code due to wearing a vest and shorts in the ring.
She was due to return to Tehran this week along with her trainer, Mahyar Monshipour, but said she would remain in France following the news.
"I was fighting in a legally approved match in France," she told L'Equipe sports newspaper, "but as I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which is completely normal in the eyes of the entire world, I confounded the rules of my country. I wasn’t wearing a hijab, I was coached by a man - some people take a dim view of this".
Hossein Soori, head of Iran's boxing federation, said he did not believe she would be arrested if she returned home.
"Ms Khadem is not a member of [Iran's] organised athletes for boxing, and from the boxing federation's perspective all her activities are personal," he said, according to the BBC.
The Iranian embassy in Paris has not commented on the subject.
Khadem is seen as one of Iran's sporting hopes, and trained by Monshipour, a former world-champion boxer herself.
Women must cover their hair, neck, arms and legs in public in Iran.
Sadaf Khadem fought and beat Anne Chauvin in France on Saturday, but had reportedly violated Iran's strict dress code due to wearing a vest and shorts in the ring.
She was due to return to Tehran this week along with her trainer, Mahyar Monshipour, but said she would remain in France following the news.
"I was fighting in a legally approved match in France," she told L'Equipe sports newspaper, "but as I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, which is completely normal in the eyes of the entire world, I confounded the rules of my country. I wasn’t wearing a hijab, I was coached by a man - some people take a dim view of this".
Hossein Soori, head of Iran's boxing federation, said he did not believe she would be arrested if she returned home.
"Ms Khadem is not a member of [Iran's] organised athletes for boxing, and from the boxing federation's perspective all her activities are personal," he said, according to the BBC.
The Iranian embassy in Paris has not commented on the subject.
Khadem is seen as one of Iran's sporting hopes, and trained by Monshipour, a former world-champion boxer herself.
Women must cover their hair, neck, arms and legs in public in Iran.
