The Iranian government has guaranteed that climber Elnaz Rekabi will be able to compete in the 2024 Olympics, if she qualifies, despite her recent controversy for competing without a headscarf in an event in South Korea.
According to her family, the athlete had been missing, was detained by Iranian authorities upon her return to Tehran and placed under house arrest. The Iranian authorities have categorically denied these last two aspects.
The Minister of Sports, Said Hamid Sajjadi, has also guaranteed that the climber will be able to compete under the Iranian flag despite «many international offers», as he declared to the semi-official Ilna news agency.
«I think she has a good chance of qualifying and, in that case, she will be able to compete in the Paris Olympics,» he said.
The climber’s decision was initially applauded as an act of solidarity with protests against authorities over the September death 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 Islamic Republic’s government.
