Iranian chess master, 18, banned from national team for refusing to wear hijab

A teenage Iranian chess grand master has been kicked off the national team after refusing to wear a hijab, according to reports.
 Dorsa Derakhshani, 18, declined to cover her hair — something that is required by law in Iran — when participating in the 2017 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. 
 Her brother Borna, 15, was also banned from the chess team for competing against an Israeli player in the same tournament, according to Heat Street. Dorsa lives in Barcelona, the news site said. 
 Both siblings are now prohibited from competing in future international competitions, it was reported.
 Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh, the head of Iran’s Chess Federation, earlier announced that Dorsa Derakhshani would be kicked off the national team, the Washington Post reported.
 “Unfortunately, what shouldn’t have happened has happened,” Pahlevanzadeh reportedly told the semi-official Fars News Agency.
 “Our national interests have priority over everything,” he continued.
 “As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran... And, in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team.”
 But some have turned to social media to decry the ban faced by the Derakhshani siblings. 
 “Dorsa to me is the true feminist,” the Iranian women’s rights activist Darya Safai reportedly wrote on Facebook.

Source: Arab News