PARIS
- Iranian Arash Miresmaeili, the 66-kilogram world judo
champion in 2001 and 2003, ruled out any chance of
winning a gold at the Athens Olympics by turning up
overweight to fight against an Israeli opponent on
Sunday, at the same time throwing his country's
continued participation into doubt.
The
International Judo Federation failed to agree on how to
deal with the explosive issue at an emergency meeting,
and was due to hold further talks on Monday. The key
issue is whether Miresmaeili will be penalized alone, or
the entire Iranian Olympic squad.
The official reason at the Games for Miresmaeili,
23, not fighting Ehud Vaks was his failure to make the
66kg weight limit. But in Tehran, the Iranian
National Olympic Committee said in a statement: "This is
a general policy of our country to refrain from
competing against athletes of the Zionist regime, and
Arash Miresmaeili has observed this policy." Iran has
refused to recognize Israel's existence since the
Iranian Islamic revolution of 1979.
It
is not yet clear whether Iranian
authorities ordered Miresmaeili, a devout Shi'ite Muslim,
to miss the weight limit deliberately for the fight against
Vaks, or whether he made the decision himself. Miresmaeili
said, though, that the move was "a token of sympathy with
the Palestinian people".
The Israeli team has
refused to comment on the topic, claiming that they
arrived in Athens to "participate in sports and not in
politics".
Not only does Iran not recognize
Israel, it considers the Jewish state najes, an
Arabic word meaning "unclean" or "untouchable", and wants
its destruction. "We consider Israel as being
najes, to the point that we are not willing to
claim the money [Israel] owes us from before the
[Islamic] Revolution [of 1979], because we consider that
money to also be najes," Iranian Defense Minister
Ali Shamkhani told journalists on Sunday.
"I
had worked hard for months in the hope to embrace a gold
medal; however, I do not feel upset at all not fighting
the Israeli opponent," Miresmaeili, who carried the
Iranian flag at the opening ceremony on Friday, told the
official Iranian news agency IRNA, adding that he was
"in very good shape".
Earlier, and perhaps an
indication of who might have been behind his move,
Miresmaeili was quoted by the influential French daily
Le Monde as saying, "I'm a Muslim and a Shi'ite, but
each has his own religion and this must be respected.
And anyhow, one forgets all these things once on the
tatami [mat]. The Olympic Games is a meeting
point where one can meet representatives of numerous
nations that come there in a spirit of friendship and
sportsmanship."
The two-time winner of
the flyweight (under 66kg) world title did not fight
the Israeli even though Palestinian athletes challenged
their Israeli opponents. He could now be banned from all
international competition for up to two years.
Veteran Iranian sports commentator Iraj
Adibzadeh of the Persian service of Radio France
International regretted Miresmaeili's decision. "The
Olympic Games are a theater of friendship and humanity.
The International Olympic Committee has always warned
against bringing politics into the Games. But what the
Iranians do is against this policy, and if they do not
want to compete against the Israelis, they should get
out of the Games altogether," he told Asia Times Online.
Similarly, Hoseyn Khonsari, another sports commentator,
based in the Netherlands, said, "Contrary to the
Iranian authorities, there is no praising Miresmaeili
for what he did. In my view, the most cherished wish for
any athlete and sportsmen is to get a gold medal at the
Olympic or any other international games. With his
background and experience, Miresmaeili had a great
chance to embrace this magic moment of glory. But I
think the possible gold medal was sacrificed to Iranian
leaders, who think of nothing but their own petty
personal interests."
Qolamali Haddad Adel, the
conservative Speaker of the majlis (parliament), as well
as the conservative-controlled press congratulated
Miresmaeili for his "heroic and courageous act of
protest against force and occupation" and presented him
as a "national hero".
"The heroic
and great action of Arash Miresmaeili who, in
protest to occupation, terror and usurpation renounced
his medal [chances] at the Olympic Games, has gone straight
to our heart and will be encrusted in the history
of the glories of our nation," said Iranian
President Mohammad Khatami in a message addressed to the president
of the Iranian Physical Education Organization,
Mehr Alizadeh, adding that Iran would consider Miresmaeili the
world champion, meaning that he would be entitled to a 1
billion rial (US$115,000) prize as promised to anyone
of the small Iranian team striking gold at the Games.
"Your disqualification because of supporting
Palestine will promote your position in the hearts of
Muslims," the conservative House Speaker said.
"Miresmaeili must receive a special prize as he
was the prime candidate for the gold medal and I will do
my best about it," said the head of the Iranian Judo
Federation, Mohammad Derakhshan, a Revolutionary Guards
officer.
Sunday's
incident is not the first time Iranian and Arab
sportsmen have failed to fight against Israeli
opponents. At the 2001 world judo championships, Iranian
Mahed Malekmohammdi refused to face Yoel Razvozov, while
Asian champion Masoud Haji Akhoundzadeh also pulled out
of a planned clash with Israeli lightweight Zvi Shafran,
the French news agency Agence France-Presse reported.
At the 2003 world table-tennis championships in
Paris, Israel lodged an official protest after Yemeni
and Saudi players refused to play against one of its
team members. Yemeni player
Hani al-Hammadi had been due to face Israel's Gay
Elensky, but turned and left when he saw his opponent
was Israeli. One day later, Elensky was due to meet
Saudi player Nabil al-Magahwi - but the Saudi refused to
come to the table.
Al-Magahwi was banned for a
year, but became a national hero in his homeland. "What
I did in Paris was the right thing and I feel proud of
it," he said at the time, adding: "It is natural for an
Arab or a Muslim not to want to face an Israeli, because
of our protest against the Israeli aggression in
Palestine."
"The Israeli player appears
with sportswear, but he will never hesitate to take it off,
wear his military uniform and direct his gun at
Palestinian children on coming back home," said
al-Hammadi, explaining on May 21 last year to Islam
Online the reason for his boycott of the match with
Elensky.
Safa Haeri is a Paris-based
Iranian journalist covering the Middle East and Central
Asia.
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