Iran wrestling head quits, refusing to lie over facing Israelis

Alongside Rasoul Khadem, the councils for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling also announced that they were resigning en masse, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

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Wrestling is a hugely popular sport in Iran. (Source: File)

Head of Iran’s wrestling federation Rasoul Khadem resigned on Wednesday after criticising authorities for letting athletes take the fall for the ban on facing Israeli opponents. Khadem, an Olympic gold medallist, was re-elected as president of the federation just two months ago. In a somewhat cryptic letter published on the federation’s website, he hinted that the decision to quit was forced on to him while claiming “apparently it is not going to work out” because of “my awkward mentality”. “I cannot lie. Sometimes the best way to take a stand is not to stand,” he wrote.

Alongside Khadem, the councils for freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling also announced that they were resigning en masse, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. Khadem had recently criticised the Iranian authorities for their approach to competing against Israeli athletes.

The statement was followed by a six-month ban to Iran’s Alireza Karimi Mashiani by the United World Wrestling Disciplinary Chamber for deliberately losing a match at the Under-23 World Championships in Poland in November in order to avoid facing an Israeli opponent in the subsequent round. His coach was banned two years.

Khadem stated that it would be better if Iranians openly admitted that they won’t compete against Israelis rather than make up excuses which would lead to consequences. “If we must continue with the policy of non-competition against the Zionist regime’s athletes, the responsibility cannot fall on the shoulders of the coach and the athlete,” he said on public radio, according to ISNA. “Forcing an athlete to accept defeat or run around all night looking for a doctor’s note is not right,” he added.

He further stressed while speaking to ISNA that if the country’s policy was to avoid facing Israelis then it should “behave honestly and… accept the consequences”.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, dozens of Iranian athletes have boycotted competitions against Israelis, either out of choice or under pressure from authorities. The official reasons for not facing an Israeli opponent have varied – from claiming sickness or failing to show up, since an open refusal breaches the sport’s regulations.

Arguably the most popular incident of an Iranian against Israeli athlete came at the 2004 Olympics in Athens when two-time judo world champion Arash Miresmaili deliberately showed up overweight for a bout against an Israeli and was disqualified. He later said he had done so “to sympathise with the suffering of the people of Palestine”.