Elnaz Rekabi was back at the airport in Tehran on Wednesday morning, it was still black outside. Her eyes were serious and tense as she repeated to state media cameras the previous day’s statements, which had surfaced on her Instagram channel: In the rush before her competition, she forgot her hijab when putting on climbing gear. unintentionally. You regret this. She apologized to the Iranians for the worries she caused them. Then she got into a car and the convoy drove away to an initially unknown destination.
Who could have protected Elnaz Rekabi? Who stands by an athlete in an Olympic sport who, contrary to the strict moral codes of the mullahs of her home country, competes in an international tournament without a headscarf, her hair showing and tied in a ponytail? It was to be feared that sport climber Elnaz Rekabi would face reprisals. For weeks, since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, Iranian citizens have been taking to the streets. The fact that an athlete did not wear a veil when she made a public appearance abroad was interpreted as a clear commitment to support the demonstrators. Human rights organizations feared for their safety.
Elnaz Rekabi could hardly have hoped for the protection of his own national association at the Asian Championships in Seoul. But the support of the International Climbing Federation (IFSC) in Seoul, who said on Tuesday that he was looking for contact with Iranian authorities and that he took the safety of all athletes very seriously. On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee then made a similar statement: There were early talks with officials from Iran and the world association, according to a statement. The IOC received clear assurances that Elnaz Rekabi would not face any consequences once he arrived in Tehran. However, it remained unclear how the IOC intends to independently verify such a security guarantee within Iran’s national borders.
With its human rights strategy, the IOC has acknowledged its responsibility
There is no denying the fact that the highest sports bodies have a duty of care to athletes – especially when the athletes come from countries where they experience constant discrimination, intimidation, harassment and harassment. However, the Iranian regime has hardly been held accountable for the most serious violations of human rights in sport, such as the execution of wrestler Navid Afkari two years ago. Just as little as, for example, China, organizer of this year’s Winter Games, whose suppression of the Uyghurs in the sports bodies had no consequences.
The IOC published its human rights strategy this year – and thus acknowledged its responsibility. In the future, it is expressly stated that it also wants to act preventively. If it takes its own guidelines seriously, then state violence in sport can no longer be tolerated. Then the reprisals in Iran must finally be followed by sensitive sanctions of whatever kind.
Only then will you be able to protect Elnaz Rekabi, everyone else.