An Iranian judoka was pressured by his country's authorities to throw a world judo championships semi-final in Tokyo last week so as to avoid ...
BERLIN: An Iranian judoka was pressured by his country's authorities to throw a world judo championships semi-final in Tokyo last week so as to avoid fighting an Israeli opponent, the International Judo Federation said on Monday .
"On the other side of the line, the Iranian first deputy minister of sport, Davar Zani, gave him the order to withdraw Mollaei from the competition to avoid a potential contest between Iran and Israel." This is not the first time athletes from Arab nations or Iran are told to pull out or refuse to compete with Israeli athletes in Olympics or other international competitions.At the 2004 Athens Olympics then Iranian world champion Arash Mirasmaeili refused to fight Israeli judoka Ehud Vaks, earning praise back home.
"Today, the National Olympic Committee of Iran and the Sport Minister told me to not compete, that I had to comply with the law," Mollaei said in the IJF statement.
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