Olympics
IRAN’S ONLY FEMALE OLYMPIC MEDALLIST DEFECTS
Iran’s only female Olympic medallist Kimia Alizadeh says she has defected from the country after criticising the regime’s “hypocrisy, lies and injustice”.
The taekwondo star made history at Rio 2016 when, aged just 18, she captured bronze in the women’s under-57 kilograms division.
Her success generated many headlines but Alizadeh claimed Iranian authorities had since used her achievement for political gain.
She said they linked the Olympic medal to Iran’s law which makes wearing the hijab compulsory for women.
Iran has faced severe criticism from the west for alleged human rights abuses with Amnesty International claiming that the situation has “severely deteriorated”.
Women are said to face “entrenched discrimination”.
Alizadeh posted on Instagram in Farsi, alongside a black and white photograph of her at Rio 2016.
She said that she was in Europe, but had not received an offer to go there.
“Let me now freely introduce my censored identity,” she wrote.
“I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran.
“They took me wherever they wanted, whatever they said I wore.
“Every sentence they ordered I repeated.
“Whenever they saw fit, they confiscated me.
“They put my medals on the obligatory veil and attributed it to their management and tact.
“I didn’t care, none of us care about them, we are tools.
“Only those metal medals are important to buy political exploitation at whatever price they themselves have set.”
Alizadeh, who has two World Championship medals and won gold at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, said she faced comments such as “the virtue of a woman is not to stretch her legs”.
She was selected to be Iran’s flagbearer at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang but withdrew from the event amid long-standing injury problems, which some feared would cause her retirement.
“My troubled spirit does not fit into your dirty economic channels and tight political lobbies,” she added.
“I have no other wish except for taekwondo, security and a happy and healthy life.
“Dear Iranian people, I did not want to climb the stairs of corruption and lies.
“No-one has invited me to Europe and I haven’t been given an offer.
“But I was suffering from the hardship of homesickness because I didn’t want to sit at the table of hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery.
“This decision is even harder to win than the Olympic gold, but I remain the son of Iran wherever I am.”
Mahin Farhadizadeh, a deputy Iranian Sports Minister, said he had not read the Instagram post, according to the ISNA news agency and Reuters.
“As far as I know she always wanted to continue her studies in physiotherapy,” he said.
Alizadeh’s decision is the latest high-profile defection to hit Iran after judoka Saeid Mollaei joined the Mongolian team.
He was ordered to withdraw from the World Championships in Tokyo last year, where he was defending his under-81 kilograms title, to avoid the possibility of facing Israel’s Sagi Muki.
Threats were reportedly made to himself and his family and he initially sought asylum in Germany.
The news also comes at a time of high political tension in Iran following the assassination of top general Qasem Soleimani in a strike ordered by American President Donald Trump.
More than 50 people died in a stampede at his funeral and 176 people were killed when the Iranian military, who fired back at American airbases in Iraq, mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane.
-insidethegames
Nigeria’s men’s and women’s flag football teams made history in Cairo by clinching gold at the first-ever IFAF African Flag Football Championships, a landmark moment in the sport’s journey towards its Olympic debut at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
In a thrilling men’s final at Club One Stadium in Maadi, Nigeria edged host nation Egypt 13-12 before a lively home crowd. The match was attended by prominent dignitaries, including Egypt’s Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr. Ashraf Sobhi.
The Nigerian women’s team also delivered a commanding performance in their final, defeating Morocco 26-12. Quarterback Anuoluwapo Bello led the charge with two decisive touchdowns in the second half, securing the title and underscoring Nigeria’s growing dominance in the sport.
Tunisia (men) and Egypt (women) took home bronze medals, completing the continent’s first-ever flag football championship podiums.
Africa Makes History
The two-day tournament (June 20–21, 2025), organized under the auspices of the Egyptian Federation of American Football, featured 11 teams from eight nations. It marked the opening event of IFAF’s 2025 Continental Championship Series, the most expansive competition cycle in flag football history, culminating in LA28.
As newly crowned African champions, both Nigerian teams earned automatic qualification for the 2026 IFAF Flag Football World Championships. The competition also saw 10 national teams receive their first-ever official world rankings.
Emotional Reactions from Champions and Rivals
“This is a great achievement for us and I’m proud of every woman here,” said Nigeria’s women’s quarterback Anuoluwapo Bello. “I’m excited for the opportunity to go to the World Championships and show everyone what we can do.”
“It’s amazing, surreal, historic and unbelievable,” added Nigeria’s men’s quarterback Hayes Obinna-Uzoh. “We’ve made history.”
Egypt’s men’s quarterback Mahmoud Aboushady praised the passionate home support: “We gave it our all but just came up short. The crowd was incredible — a big turnout, all cheering — and that was really touching.”
Morocco’s women’s centre Sonia Mouimen also reflected on the atmosphere: “We rarely see crowds this size making so much noise outside of soccer matches. I’m very proud of my team.”
NFL and IFAF: Partners in Growth
Flag football, one of the world’s fastest-growing sports, is expanding rapidly across Africa. Many IFAF member federations recorded more than 100% growth in participation last year.
The Cairo event was organized in partnership with the NFL, which is working with IFAF to build a sustainable development pathway for the sport across the continent.
Alongside the main competition, the NFL hosted a series of legacy-building activities:
- A continental youth flag football championship for U12 boys and girls
- A talent ID camp offering routes into the NFL Africa-Europe Academy and the International Player Pathway (IPP) program
- A coaching education clinic for aspiring female coaches, featuring IFAF Global Flag Ambassador Elisa De Santis (France)
Star NFL players of African descent, Bobby Okereke (New York Giants, Nigeria) and Tanoh Kpassagnon (Cote d’Ivoire/Uganda), were present in Cairo, joined by two-time Super Bowl winner Osi Umenyiora, the NFL’s Africa lead.
“The first African Continental Championship was a tremendous success, and Egypt proved to be the perfect host,” said Umenyiora. “It was inspiring to see nations from across the continent come together and showcase their incredible talent.”
Looking Ahead
IFAF President Pierre Trochet hailed the championship as a foundational moment:
“Every player and official who set foot on the field in Cairo this week can claim a piece of history. More important than the history is the future. We are committed, alongside the NFL, to using this tournament as a springboard for long-term growth.”
Egyptian Federation President Ali Rafeek echoed the sentiment:
“No words can truly capture the emotion of this moment. It was a world-class competition filled with outstanding performances and incredible energy. Africa is officially on the flag football map.”
The event also marked the beginning of IFAF’s partnership with the International Testing Agency, which launched anti-doping education initiatives for athletes and officials during the championship.
The IFAF Continental Flag Football series continues later this year with EURO FLAG 2025 in Paris, France.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s directive banning citizens from 12 countries from entering the U.S. exempts athletes, and LA28 officials said on Thursday they were confident the Games had the full backing of the administration.
Trump signed the proclamation on Wednesday as part of an immigration crackdown he said was needed to protect against “foreign terrorists” and other security threats.
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“The important thing for us is that the federal government and this administration recognized the importance of the Olympics and the Games,” LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover told Reuters on Thursday.
“There is a carve-out in the order in the travel ban that allows for and assures that there will be access to the Games for the athletes and their families and officials.
“We will be able to have a wide-open Games.”
The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
The entry of people from seven other countries – Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela – will be partially restricted.
Casey Wasserman, the chairman of LA28, the private, non-profit company organizing the Games, said he had “great confidence” that the positive working relationship with the administration would continue.
“It was very clear in the directive that the Olympics require special consideration, and I want to thank the federal government for recognizing that,” he told a press conference after hosting International Olympic Committee officials in Los Angeles.
Wasserman added that he did not anticipate the travel ban to have any impact on ticket sales, which will begin next year.
The U.S. along with Canada and Mexico will host the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and Trump said during a task force meeting last month that he wanted people traveling to the U.S. to watch that competition to have a seamless experience during their visit.
“At the White House task force the president, the vice president, all of the administration officials said, ‘We welcome the world to come to FIFA,’” Hoover said.
“I think the administration is welcoming the world to come to LA.”
Hoover said LA28 continues to forge ties with the administration ahead of the mega-sporting event, now just over three years away.
“We have direct communication with the White House through the chief of staff, we have direct communication with the Department of State, and we are working with the State Department to have embedded teams to coordinate visa access,” he said.
-Reuters
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The Los Angeles 2028 Olympics will feature an increase in women’s soccer teams from 12 to 16, while the men’s competition will be downsized from 16 to a dozen teams, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday.
The decision was part of several changes to the Olympic event programme, including more mixed events across various sports and all team sports featuring at least the same number of women’s and men’s teams.
The IOC said the reason for the sharp increase in women’s soccer teams was the rapidly growing popularity of women’s team sports, especially in the United States, and that change in the competition format reflected that rapid growth.
“We wanted to do something to reflect that growth and equally with the United States being the home of the highest level of popularity of women’s football,” IOC sports director Kit McConnell told a press conference.
He said the IOC had discussed the issue with both LA Games organisers and world soccer’s governing body FIFA before going through with the changes.
The total number of players — men’s and women’s — would not change.
The United States, who will also host the 2026 men’s and the 2031 women’s World Cup, have won five Olympic gold medals in the women’s competition.
The men’s teams use mostly under-23 players at Olympic Games.
The LA Games will have a total of 351 medal events in all sports, 22 more than at Paris 2024 Olympics.
Several sports, including archery, athletics, golf and gymnastics will be adding new mixed-team events, with the total number of athletes unchanged at 10,500.
The five sports proposed by the LA Games organising committee — baseball/softball, cricket, flag football, lacrosse and squash — will have an extra 698 quota places.
-Reuters
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