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Taekwondo champion Kimia Alizadeh, who won a
bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, had said on social media
she left because she had had enough of being used by its
authorities as a propaganda tool.
A taekwondo trainer in the Netherlands, Mimoun El Boujjoufi,
told the NOS he had been approached by Alizadeh a month ago.
"She was on holiday in Europe, but decided with her partner not
to return to Iran," el Boujjoufi was quoted as saying. "Of
course she is welcome here. We know her qualities. She is a
great addition to taekwondo in the Netherlands."
In an Instagram post over the weekend, Alizadeh had implied she
had moved to Europe, but provided no details.
"No one has invited me to Europe and I haven’t been given a
tempting offer. But I accept the pain and hardship of
homesickness because I didn't want to be part of hypocrisy,
lies, injustice and flattery," she said.
"I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran whom
they've been playing for years... I wore whatever they told me
and repeated whatever they ordered. Every sentence they ordered
I repeated," she wrote.
It was unclear whether the Netherlands had been contacted about
an asylum request. The Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
Alizadeh said the Islamic Republic's authorities had attributed
her success to their management and the fact that she wore the
Islamic veil, which is obligatory in Iran.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Writing by Anthony Deutsch, Editing
by William Maclean)
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