A female Iranian boxer has cancelled her return home because she fears she will be arrested for violating the country’s dress code.
Sadaf Khadem, the first Iranian woman to contest an official bout, claims she faces arrest for wearing shorts and a vest in the ring.
Iranian officials have denied the existence of an arrest warrant against the boxer or her trainer Mahyar Monshipour.
Her representative Clara Dallay said authorities had issued arrest warrants against her and fight organiser Mahyar Monshipour.
Speaking to French sports newspaper L’Equipe, Khadem claimed her boxing gear – a vest and shorts in the colours of Iran’s flag – may have violated the country’s laws.
She also said she feared a backlash because she was coached by a man and was not wearing a hijab.
However the head of Iran’s boxing federation denied Khadem would be arrested attributing the information to ‘media linked to Saudi Arabia’.
‘Mrs Khadem is not a member of Iran’s organised athletes for boxing, and from the boxing federation’s perspective all her activities are personal,’ the head of the boxing lobby said.
But the dress code has been the subject of fierce protests from women’s rights activists in Iran in the last 18 months.
Many women protested against the obligatory Muslim headscarf by taking theirs off and waving them on sticks.