MADRID, 29 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Iranian government has guaranteed that climber Elnaz Rekabi will be able to compete in the 2024 Olympics, if she qualifies, despite recent controversy over competing without a headscarf at an event in South Korea.
According to her family, the athlete was missing, was detained by the Iranian authorities upon her return to Tehran and placed under house arrest. The Iranian authorities have categorically denied these last two aspects.
The Sports Minister, Said Hamid Sajjadi, has also guaranteed that the climber will be able to compete under the flag of his country despite “many international offers”, as he has declared to the semi-official Ilna agency.
“I think he has a good chance of qualifying and, in that case, he will be able to compete in the Olympic Games in Paris,” he declared.
The climber’s decision was initially applauded as an act of solidarity with protests against the authorities over the death in September in custody of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.
The climber insisted, however, that she competed without a veil by accident, not as a political gesture against the Government of the Islamic Republic.
