Boxing: Sadaf Khadem to break a barrier for Iranian women
ROYAN, France (Reuters) - Two years after a clandestine impromptu training session on the hills of Tehran, Sadaf Khadem will become the first Iranian woman to contest an official boxing fight, hoping to lead the way in the Islamic Republic.
The bout will take place in western France on Saturday after the 24-year-old met with Frenchman Mahyar Monshipour, an Iranian-born former super bantamweight world champion.
“In 2017, I went to Iran for a promotional event and I ended up organizing a public training session on the hills overlooking Tehran. About 35 people showed up, and there were six women,” Monshipour told Reuters.
“She contacted me on social media to ask me to make her box but I told her it was not possible. Then about a couple of months ago the Iranian federation opened the door for women boxing and we asked them to set up an event.
“But it became apparent that it would not be possible because they wanted a female coach, female referee... so with the help of the Sports ministry we made her come to France.”
Next week Khadem will return to Iran, where Monshipour expects her to be met with ‘popular jubilation’.
He will, however, travel back with her, just in case, to a country where women have started to take off their head scarves in a peaceful protest against the compulsory hijab.
“If she ends up in custody, I will not let her down,” he said.
Khadem took up boxing four years ago, being compelled to train in private fitness rooms since public boxing facilities are reserved for men.
In Iran, women were allowed to attend a men’s soccer game for the first last October.
“It is easier for wrestling and weightlifting because they are more in our culture,” Khadem told Reuters after a training session on Thursday.