Sadaf Khadem: The Iranian boxer interrupts her return to fears of arrest

An Iranian woman who became the first woman in her country to play an official boxing match said she had canceled her return from France after a warrant for her arrest.

Sadaf Khadem defeated French boxer Anne Chauvin at an amateur match Saturday.

She had planned to fly to Tehran with her Franco-Iranian coach this week.

According to a sports daily, Khadem is said to have been accused of violating Iran's dress code by wearing a vest and shorts.

Iranian officials have so far not confirmed the existence of a warrant.

Khadem was beaten in a green vest and red shorts with a white sash – the colors of the Iranian national flag – during Saturday's fight in Royan, a city in western France.

The 24-year-old man had to fight abroad because, despite the blessing of the Iranian sports authorities, it was too complicated to meet the requirement that the fight be arbitrated and judged by women .

Khadem was expected to welcome a hero on his return to Iran.

But while she was traveling to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris with her coach Mahyar Monshipour, a former World Boxing Association champion born in Iran, who also advises the French Sports Minister, she learned that arrest warrants had been issued.

"I was fighting in a legal match in France, but as I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, which is quite normal to the eyes of the world, I confused the rules of my country, "she told The Newspaper Team.

"I did not wear a hijab, I was coached by a man – some people have a bleak view of the situation."

A spokesman for the Iranian embassy in Paris told the Reuters news agency that he could not say if Khadem was under arrest in Iran or if she had decided not to return to Iran.

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On Monday, the Iranian Boxing Federation said that she had not organized any fights for women and was not responsible for individual boxers. But he stressed that athletes should respect the Iranian laws on the hijab.

Under Iranian law, women and girls 9 and under who are seen in public without a headscarf can be punished with a prison term ranging from 10 days to two months or a fine.

Iranian sportswomen must cover their hair, neck, arms and legs during competitions.

Until recently, Khadem would not have been allowed to take part in an official boxing match wearing a hijab or full body uniform for religious areas. But the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the governing body of amateur boxing, changed its uniform rules at the end of February.