The court hearing on the suspension of the Iranian Judo Federation was held.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, has heard Iran's appeal against the International Judo Federation's suspension of its judo team, which has been banned from international competitions for refusing to face Israeli opponents.
The temporary suspension of the Islamic Republic of Iran Judo Federation dates back to the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. On Wednesday, September 16, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) held a meeting in Lausanne to hear the Iran case.
To prevent the temporary suspension of the Judo Federation from becoming a permanent ban on Iranian judokas from participating in international games, the Islamic Republic filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which was scheduled to be heard on April 10.
The coronavirus crisis delayed the proceedings by about five months. The Iranian delegation sent to Lausanne includes Arash Mirasmaeili, the president of the Judo Federation, a lawyer, an assistant lawyer, and three witnesses.
According to ISNA news agency, the Iranian witnesses in this case are Mohammad Reza Davarzani, the then Deputy Minister of Sports during the World Judo Championship in Japan, Nasrollah Sajjadi, a representative of the National Olympic Committee, and Majid Zareian, the head coach of the national judo team.
The testimony of three Iranian judokas against Iran
The other side has presented six witnesses, including Saeed Mollaei, former national team judoka, Mohammad Mansouri, former national team coach, Vahid Sarlak, former Iranian national team player and current coach of the Tajikistan national judo team, and three foreign athletes.
The voluntary or forced refusal of Iranian athletes to face Israeli opponents had been a problem many times before, but the serious problem began at the Tokyo championships when federation officials forced Saeed Mollaei, the world champion, to concede defeat to a Belgian judoka in the semi-finals despite his clear advantage in order to avoid facing an Israeli opponent.
According to Sharq newspaper, Mollaei lost to his Georgian opponent in the ranking matches to avoid standing next to the Israeli athlete on the championship podium, contrary to unwritten instructions.
Following these incidents, Saeed Mollaei emigrated abroad and applied for asylum in Germany. Mollaei revealed the pressures the federation had put on him and others to avoid facing Israeli opponents, and stated that the purpose of seeking asylum was to increase his chances of winning Olympic medals.
Islamic Republic sports officials deny pressuring Mollaei and other athletes, and in a complaint to the International Olympic Committee, they accused Mario Wieser, the president of the World Judo Federation, of conspiring to suspend the Iranian national team.
The World Judo Federation, in turn, accuses Iranian sports officials of violating the Olympic Charter, which prohibits the interference of political, racial and religious motives in sports competitions. Iran claims to adhere to this charter.
The long-standing dilemma of confronting Israeli athletes
However, with the repeated suspicious losses of Iranian judokas, in which it was evident that they avoided facing Israeli opponents, the World Federation decided to temporarily suspend the Iranian national judo team.
The World Judo Federation has appeared before the Court of Arbitration for Sport with six witnesses to justify its action and possibly to uphold Iran's permanent ban.
Another witness is Vahid Sarlak, a former Iranian national judo champion. At the 2005 championships in Egypt, he was considered a first-time gold medalist but was forced to forfeit his match against an Azerbaijani opponent to avoid facing an Israeli athlete. Sarlak sought asylum in Germany six years later.
The third witness from the World Federation is Mohammad Mansouri, the former head coach of the Iranian national judo team, who also went to Germany shortly after Mollaei emigrated. He resigned from his position after Arash Mirasmaeili was introduced as the new president of the Judo Federation and is considered a critic of political interference in sports decision-making.
The revelations of Mollaei and several other athletes, and the famous scandal of the “you must lose” chants from the side of the wrestling mat at the 2017 Youth Championships, have posed serious problems and threats to the state of Iranian sports worldwide. That year, Alireza Karimi was forced to lose to the Russian wrestler in order to avoid facing an Israeli wrestler in the next round.
A fateful trial for Iranian judo
Sharq newspaper wrote in a report titled “The fateful court of the Judo Federation”: “Chess and wrestling are two federations that are currently threatened with suspension by their world federations, unless they hold friendly matches with Israeli athletes. The International Olympic Committee has warned Iran that if it fails to resolve the issue of fighting Israeli athletes, it will bar the country’s entire sports from participating in the Asian and World Games.”
In such circumstances, the sudden execution of Navid Afkari, a Shirazi protest wrestler, despite widespread international protests, led to increased calls from world associations and ministerial circles for the International Olympic Committee to bar Iran from participating in global sports competitions.
In a statement released in Lausanne on September 16, the International Olympic Committee rejected the Islamic Republic's request for disqualification, arguing that it would punish Iranian athletes.
However, the possibility of the Iranian Judo Federation continuing its suspension and being completely banned from participating in international competitions is not small. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has not issued its ruling on Iran as of the evening of September 16.
Source: DW
