Female Iranian boxer ‘to stay in France’ after fight win

An Iranian woman, who became the country’s first female boxer to win an international fight, intends to stay in France, her spokesperson says, adding an arrest warrant had been issued against her in Iran.

Sadaf Khadem and her trainer Mahyar Monshipour are currently in the French city of Poitiers, the spokesperson, who asked not to be named, says.

Khadem, 24, had been due to return to Tehran, where she works as a fitness trainer, following her victory Saturday over 25-year-old Anne Chauvin of France in the western town of Royan.

Monshipour, who has double French and Iranian nationality, had been due to make a tour of Iran and give boxing classes.

In the bout Khadem was bare-headed and wearing shorts, defying rules in Iran that female athletes should be covered in line with its Islamic laws governing women’s dress.

Khadem is accused of violating Iranian dress rules for women while her trainer is suspected of complicity, the spokesperson said.

There was no immediate comment from the Iranian judiciary but the Iranian boxing federation distanced itself from the female boxer.

— AFP