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Home Posts Iran: It's (Not) Just Sports

Iran: It's (Not) Just Sports
Raz Zimmt
23 November, 2023
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In a meeting with Iranian sports champions and medalists in Tehran on November 22, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for Israel’s suspension from international sports competitions, and thanked Iranian athletes who refused to compete against Israeli opponents.

In recent years, the boycott policy against Israeli athletes has sparked a sharp debate in the Islamic Republic. In early 2018, the chairman of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, Rasoul Khadem, announced his resignation following the deliberate loss of the Iranian wrestler Ali-Reza Karimi to his Russian opponent in the World Youth Championship in order to avoid facing Israeli wrestler Yuri Kalashnikov. Khadem claimed that the authorities should officially announce the boycott policy against Israel and bear the consequences, and stop using various excuses, such as illness or injury of Iranian athletes, to prevent them from showing up for competitions.

The public debate on this matter peaked after the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2021, following the decision of Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei to leave Iran for Germany. This occurred after the authorities put heavy pressure on him to lose intentionally in the last rounds of the competition so that he would not have to face the Israeli judoka, Sagi Muki. Many in Iran accused the regime of harming Iranian athletes and using sports for political purposes. Some claimed that while Iran justifies the boycott policy by identifying with the Palestinian struggle, many Palestinian athletes do not boycott their Israeli opponents

Similar criticism has been sounded in recent years even in the Iranian media. In November 2017, for example, the Asr-e Iran website published an op-ed that pointed out the illogicality of the policy of boycotting Israeli athletes. The article stated that the refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist and the support for the Palestinian struggle should not be linked with the boycott of Israeli athletes. Yet despite these voices, there has been no change in the regime's policy. The Iranian Leader himself has emphasized on several occasions that athletes representing Iran will not compete against athletes representing Israel because that would acknowledge the country’s existence. The war in Gaza provides Khamenei with another opportunity to justify his positions on this matter, which reflect an ideological view that completely denies the existence of the State of Israel.

Topics: Iran, Iran: Internal Affairs
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      • Israel and the Global Powers
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      • Yemen and the Houthi Movement
      • Iraq and the Iraqi Shiite Militias
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