Fatemeh Keshavarz, Iranian Weightlifter, Goes Missing in Spain

The Iranian Weightlifting Federation announced that Fatemeh Keshavarz, a member of Iran's youth national team at the World Championships, left the hotel where the team was staying, and no one has heard from her. While the 2024 Youth World Championships are being held in Spain, the federation reported that the 71 kg national athlete had left the hotel and her mobile phone was turned off. Sajjad Anoushiri, the president of the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, told ISNA news agency that this incident occurred on Tuesday, October 3. According to him, Ms. Keshavarz, citing a 'headache' and the need for rest, refrained from attending the competition hall, but it later became clear that she had left the national team's hotel after taking her passport from the women's team coach's suitcase. In the 71 kg girls' category in Leon, Spain, Fatemeh Keshavarz and Reyhaneh Karimi from Iran ranked eighth and thirteenth in the world with lifts of 210 and 203 kg respectively. The Iranian Weightlifting Federation stated that they are unaware of Ms. Keshavarz's current situation but emphasized that 'the Iranian team officials are following up and the matter has been reported to the Spanish police.' The defection of Iranian athletes in various sports to other countries has happened multiple times. Athlete dissatisfaction, fleeing from the national team's hotel, and seeking asylum, especially in recent years, have become common occurrences in Iranian sports, and even heavy bail amounts do not prevent the widespread exit of both female and male athletes. In the 2022 Youth World Championships held in Greece, Yekta Jamali from the Iranian youth weightlifting team refused to return to Iran. She was a member of the refugee team of the International Olympic Committee at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Farzad Rostami, an Iranian karateka, sought asylum in Switzerland.