Last May, there were allegations of discrimination by Iranian authorities against female athletes. This was in response to the success of the Iran women’s national soccer team in their April match against Myanmar, which was described as “phenomenal”.
Despite this, the female players were still not remunerated in the same manner as their male counterparts. According to Al-Monitor, the women’s soccer players were only paid around $18,000 a season, while the men were paid around $200,000 to $300,000, excluding bonuses for each win.
The report highlighted a number of accomplished female athletes who had achieved success in the international arena, representing Iran in their respective sports competitions, yet were ultimately sidelined and did not receive the recognition they deserved.
Despite the exposé, it seems Iran has remained adamant in how they treat their women athletes, as another issue recently surfaced. Former boxing champ, Mahyar Monshipour who was born in Iran before moving to France, revealed that the nation’s female boxers cannot train out in the open, and that they only do so within close quarters such as ‘flats or basements’.
IOC Discrimination?
According to insidethegames, a group of dissidents has submitted a request to the IOC to prohibit Iran from participating in the Olympic Games, or at the very least to exclude them from participating in games such as Boxing, Beach Volleyball, Gymnastics, Swimming, and Wrestling, all of which are prohibited for Iranian women to compete in under the Islamic regime.
A French lawyer, Frederic Thiriez, asserted that Iran has breached the rules of the Olympic Charter, which state that:
“The practice of sport is human right.”
“There must be no discrimination of any kind, in particular on the grounds of race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other option, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.”
Thiriez who’s determined to punish Iraq over human rights violations, states in a Francs Jeux report that: “The law has its limits, that is why we’re counting on pressure from public opinion,”
This sentiment, however, was countered by Nina David, Amnesty International’s UK advocacy lead who says banning the Iranians would only punish the athletes. Will the IOC now discriminate against them?
“The IOC must of course ensure the Olympics aren’t in any way complicit in human rights violations, in line with their own human rights guidelines and international business standards, but banning Iranian athletes from competing at Paris 2024 would amount to punishing the athletes themselves, not the Iranian authorities,” she told City A.M.
The IOC has also released a statement regarding the controversy and said that they are monitoring the situation very closely.
“The IOC reserves the right to take any action relating to the participation of the Iranian athletes”.
Track and field statistician Peter Matthews passes away at 78
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