Iranian Chess Official Fears Going Home Over Hijab Images

“If I had a choice to go back to Iran, of course I would love to,” she said. “But I don’t know what would happen to me.”

Ms. Bayat told the BBC that the Iranian chess federation asked her to issue a statement addressing the controversy, but that she refused. The Iranian chess federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

In a brief email, Ms. Bayat confirmed the details in the BBC story. The three-week tournament between Ju Wenjun, the defending champion from China, and Aleksandra Goryachkina, a Russian champion, is now in Vladivostok and ends on Jan. 25.

Misha Friedman, press secretary for the International Chess Federation, said the organization had not heard from the Iranian government or any ministry official asking that Ms. Bayat be removed from the tournament.

The federation “doesn’t have a dress code,” Mr. Friedman said.

“We consider it that she is within the bounds of” federation rules, he said, “and we’re happy with the job that she is doing, so there is no problem from our perspective.”

Being picked as chief arbiter of such a prestigious tournament is a tremendous honor, said Mr. Friedman, who compared it to refereeing the Super Bowl.

Nigel Short, a federation vice president, shared his support on Twitter for Ms. Bayat on Jan. 9, along with an image of her without the hijab.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/world/middleeast/Shohreh-Bayat-hijab-chess.html?emc=rss&partner=rss