March 9, 2021 | The National Interest
Olympics Needs to Uphold Ban on Iran’s Discrimination
The CAS ruling sends the wrong message to Tehran. The principles of the Olympic Charter and the lives of Iranian athletes ought to compel more than this.
March 9, 2021 | The National Interest
Olympics Needs to Uphold Ban on Iran’s Discrimination
The CAS ruling sends the wrong message to Tehran. The principles of the Olympic Charter and the lives of Iranian athletes ought to compel more than this.
While Iran’s harassment of athletes knows no limits, its punishment must, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Monday. The CAS determined that the International Judo Federation had no “legal basis” for serving Iran an unlimited suspension over its boycott of Israeli athletes. However, the court recognized that the judo federation had committed “serious violations” and referred the case back to the IJF for disciplinary measures.
The Islamic Republic has a long history of dodging matches against the Jewish State. Former coach for Iran’s national Greco-Roman wrestling team, Sardar Pashaei, stated that “I personally witnessed Iranian authorities forcing athletes to refuse to compete with Israeli athletes.” In 2017, an Iranian trainer coerced his wrestler, Alireza Karimi-Machiani, to throw a match to prevent a showdown with an Israeli, which sparked international outrage.
Iran’s judo boycott of Israel came to a head in February 2019. Judoka Saeid Mollaei threw a match to avoid facing his Israeli counterpart, Sagi Muki. In May of that year, IJF President Marius Vizer extracted a letter from the presidents of Iran’s National Olympic Committee and judo federation guaranteeing they would “fully respect the Olympic Charter and its non-discrimination principle.” Nevertheless, in August, Tehran again ordered Mollaei to lose intentionally to avoid facing Muki.
This was the final straw for the IJF. Iran’s blatant disregard for the principles of the Olympic movement, namely non-discrimination and fair play, had gone on long enough without consequence. Between September and October 2019, the IJF reviewed the case and suspended Iran from all competitions and activities “until the Iran Judo Federation . . . accept that their athletes fight against Israeli athletes.” Iran appealed the decision immediately.
Though the Islamic Republic was suspended for sixteen months, most events were canceled due to the global pandemic. Monday’s CAS ruling undercut the IJF decision, limiting the judo governing body’s ability to punish Iran for discriminating against Israelis and harassing its own athletes.