Olympics
FOR ANTI-ISRAEL STANCE, IRAN JUDO FEDERATION IS SUSPENDED
BY MICHAEL PAVITT.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has announced a protective suspension of the Iran Judo Federation, following pressure applied to judoka Saeid Mollaei at the World Championships to avoid facing an Israeli athlete.
The decision suspends the Iran Judo Federation from all competitions, administrative and social activities organised or authorised by IJF.
The temporary suspension is in place until a final decision by the IJF Disciplinary Commission.
It marks the first time Iran has faced sanctions from a sporting governing body over its stance relating to competition against Israeli athletes.
The IJF Executive Committee began disciplinary proceedings following the incident involving former world champion Mollaei.
He potentially could have faced Israeli judoka Sagi Muki in the men’s under-81-kilogram event at the World Championships in Tokyo last month.
But before his third-round fight against the Olympic champion, Russian Khasan Khalmurzaev, Mollaei alleged he was called by the Iranian First Deputy Minister of Sport, Davar Zani.
Zani reportedly ordered him to withdraw from the competition to avoid a potential contest between Iran and Israel.
Mollaei also claimed Zani made threats against him and his family
The Iranian athlete has since revealed he will seek asylum in Germany, with the IJF offering support.
The incident at the World Championships was viewed by the IJF as a “gross contradiction” of a letter sent to the governing body on May 8, signed by the Iranian Olympic Committee President Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri and Iran Judo Federation President Arash Miresmaeili.
According to the IJF, the document categorically confirmed the “Iran NOC shall fully respect the Olympic Charter and its non-discrimination principle and the I.R. Iran Federation shall fully comply with the Olympic Charter and the IJF Statutes”
The IJF claimed the incident at the World Championships constituted a “serious breach and gross violation of the Statutes of the IJF, its legitimate interests, its principles and objectives as well as of, in particular, but not limited to, the IJF Code of Ethics and the Olympic Charter.”
The IJF explained the breaches to their statutes include the respect of the principle of the universality and political neutrality of the IJF, as well as the rejection of all forms of discrimination.
It was viewed the incident breached IJF Sport and Organisation rules relating to match fixing and competition manipulation.
The IJF Disciplinary Commission claim they have a “strong reason to believe that the Iran Judo Federation will continue or repeatedly engage in misconduct or commit any other offence against the legitimate interests, principles or objectives of the IJF”.
They noted similar incidents were reported in the past.
“During the 2004 Olympic Games the actual President of the Iran Judo Federation, Mr. Arash Miresmaeili, has been instructed by the Iranian authorities to withdraw from competing to avoid a potential contest against an Israeli athlete,” the IJF said.
“The same situation happened also during the 2019 Paris Grand Slam regarding Mr Saeid Mollaei.”
The Iran Judo Federation can appeal the protective suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days.
Earlier this month, Iran NOC President Amiri claimed Mollaei would be greeted “like a champion” if he returned to the country, despite the judoka revealing he had been threatened.
Amiri also claimed he sent four letters of complaint to the International Olympic Committee over the conduct of the IJF and its President Marius Vizer.
FLASHBACK
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iranian judoka, Arash Miresmaeili was disqualified for weighing in at nearly four pounds above the limit for his weight class of his under-66 kilograms match against an Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks in the first round.
It was claimed Miresmaeili had gone on an eating binge to protest the International Olympic Committee’s recognition of the state of Israel.
Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and Miresmaeili’s actions won praise from high-ranking Iranian officials.
Mohammad Khatami, the country’s President at the time, was quoted as saying Miresmaili’s actions would be “recorded in the history of Iranian glories”.
He was later awarded $125,000 by the Government – the same amount given to Olympic gold medallists.
-insidethegames
Athletes at the Milano Cortina Winter Games have raced through their free condom supply ahead of Valentine’s Day, leaving dispensers empty on Saturday, with more than a week of competition remaining.
According to a report by Reuters, organisers had distributed around 10,000 condoms across the city and mountain accommodation sites, continuing a long-standing Olympic tradition aimed at promoting safe relationships among competitors living in close quarters.
By Saturday, however, supplies had run out — adding Milan to a growing list of Olympic hosts where demand has comfortably exceeded expectations.
“Clearly, this shows Valentine’s Day is in full swing at the village,” International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference. “Ten thousand have been used — 2,800 athletes — you can go figure, as they say.”
Adams added with a smile: “It is rule 62 of the Olympic Charter that we have to have a condoms story. Faster, higher, stronger, together.”
Milano Cortina organisers later acknowledged that stocks had been depleted due to “higher-than-anticipated demand,” but assured that additional supplies were already on the way.
“Additional supplies are being delivered and will be distributed across all Villages between today and Monday,” organisers said in a statement. “They will be continuously replenished until the end of the Games to ensure continued availability.”
The unexpected shortage also surprised some athletes.
Mexican figure skater Donovan Carrillo said he had only just heard about the situation. “I just saw that this morning. I was, like, shocked as everyone else,” he said.
Mialitiana Clerc, an alpine skier representing Madagascar, noted that boxes once placed at building entrances were quickly emptied.
“There were a lot of boxes at the entrance of every building where we were staying, and every day, everything had gone from the boxes,” Clerc said. “I already know that a lot of people are using condoms, or giving them to their friends outside of the Olympics, because it’s a kind of gift for them.”
While medals remain the official measure of achievement at the Games, the empty dispensers suggest that the social side of the Olympics is also proceeding at full pace.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday awarded a top state honour to an Olympic skeleton racer who was disqualified from the Winter Games for wearing a helmet commemorating athletes killed in the war with Russia.
Zelenskiy, speaking to Vladyslav Heraskevych on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference, said he had great respect for “all the Olympians who supported you and your position.”
“Medals are important for Ukraine and for you, but it seems to me that the most important thing is who you are,” Zelenskiy said while presenting the racer with the Order of Freedom.
Heraskevych told the president the award was “huge” and that the athletes depicted on the helmet “deserve it even more. Because of their sacrifice, we can compete in the Olympics.”
Heraskevych, 27, was disqualified at the Winter Games in Italy on Thursday when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that the helmet’s depiction of athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 breached rules on political neutrality.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed his appeal on Friday.
Heraskevych told reporters after the award ceremony that his disqualification was discriminatory as he had not violated the Olympic Charter, a document he said he “really valued.”
“But at the same time, I understand that this scandal has united people around the world about our problem and about the sacrifice of these great athletes, and I believe this goal is much more important than any medal,” he said.
Speaking before the CAS hearing earlier in the day, Heraskevych said his exclusion and rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee were “an instrument of propaganda for Russia. I still receive a lot of threats from the Russian side.”
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
Ukraine’s skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games on Thursday over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the International Olympic Committee said.
He was informed of his disqualification after a meeting with IOC President Kirsty Coventry early in the morning at the sliding venue.
His team said they would appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Coventry told reporters she had wanted to meet the athlete face to face in a last-ditch effort to break the impasse.
“I was not meant to be here but I thought it was really important to come here and talk to him face to face,” Coventry told reporters.
“No one, especially me, is disagreeing with the messaging, it’s a powerful message, it’s a message of remembrance, of memory.
“The challenge was to find a solution for the field of play. Sadly we’ve not been able to find that solution” she added, choking up.
“I really wanted to see him race, It’s been an emotional morning.”
The IOC offered him the opportunity to display his “helmet of remembrance” depicting 24 images of dead compatriots before the start and after the end of Thursday’s race at the Games, while also allowing him to wear a black armband while competing.
“I am disqualified from the race. I will not get my Olympic moment,” said Heraskevych.
The skeleton competition starts later on Thursday.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- WAFCON5 days ago
BREAKING: CAF Postpones WAFCON 2026
- World Cup1 day ago
Iraq coach calls for delay to World Cup playoff amid travel shutdown
- DIPLOMACY1 day ago
Morocco Backs Gulf Security, Condemns Iranian Attacks Against Brotherly Arab States
- DIPLOMACY21 hours ago
Trump calls on Australia to give asylum to Iranian women’s soccer players
- OBITUARY6 days ago
Nigerian Sports Journalism Mourns Oyeniyi Oyeleke and Tonex Chukwu
- MLS1 week ago
Trump to Host Lionel Messi and Inter Miami at the White House
- OBITUARY20 hours ago
Breaking! Former Super Eagles Coach Adegboye Onigbinde Dies Four Days After Clocking 88
- World Cup7 days ago
‘I really don’t care’ if Iran plays in World Cup, Trump tells Politico