Iranian female boxer cancels return home after arrest warrant issued

24-year-old is the first women to take part in sport from her country

PARIS: Sadaf Khadem, who last Saturday became the first Iranian woman to contest an official boxing fight, has cancelled her return to Tehran after an arrest warrant was issued for her in her home country, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.



An arrest warrant was also issued against Mahyar Monshipour, the Iranian-born former boxing world champion who set up the bout in western France and was planning to travel back to Iran with Khadem this week, the same source told Reuters on Wednesday.



The French foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

On Saturday, Khadem beat local boxer Anne Chauvin in a 3x2 amateur bout, becoming the first Iranian woman to take part in a boxing fight.

The 24-year-old, who was in Paris on Monday, is returning to Monshipour's home town of Poitiers.