Iranian athletes refuse to return home

Teenage table tennis player has eluded her team in Denmark and refused to return to Iran, a sport federation said and Iranian media reported, in another likely case of athletes seeking refuge abroad.

"Baran Arjmand, a 15-year-old member of Iran's youth national team who participated in the World Championships in Sweden, left the delegation after the competition concluded," the Iranian Table Tennis Federation said Friday.

Many Iranian athletes have sought refuge while abroad in international sporting competitions in recent years. Forty percent of the 36 athletes selected for the 2024 Refugee Olympic Team hailed from Iran.

The considerable presence of Iranian refugees on the team followed a surge in the emigration of athletes, artists, and skilled workers from Iran, driven by increasing economic pressure and anti-government sentiment.

Many Iranian athletes who remain abroad have cited political pressures, social restrictions, or personal reasons for their actions. In January 2023, Iranian alpine skier Atefeh Ahmadi applied for asylum in Germany after traveling to Europe for training.

In December 2021, Shaghayegh Bapiri, a member of the Iranian women’s handball team, refused to return to Iran after a tournament in Spain, citing the country’s mandatory hijab rules and other restrictions she faced.