Monday, July 26th 2021
The next judoka does not compete
Boycott mood at the Olympics against Israel?
Again, a judoka does not compete against his Israeli competitor. This time it’s the Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool. His case is still unclear because the athletes and the association have not yet made any statements. Nevertheless, a volatile political affair could arise.
The Palestine conflict has probably finally reached the Olympic stage: two opponents of the Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul did not compete in Tokyo. While the rejection of the Algerian Fethi Nourine was clearly politically motivated, the case of the Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool is still a mystery.
The 28-year-old, who as 469th in the world rankings, was already a blatant outsider, should have fought against Nourine in the first round of the class up to 73 kilograms, but had moved into the round of 32 without a fight and thus became Butbul’s opponent become. Although Abdalrasool was still there for the official weigh-in, shortly before the planned fight there was a “DNS” for “Did Not Start” behind his name.
Neither the IOC, nor the World Judo Federation, and certainly not the Sudanese team, could or would shed light on the darkness. Four days after Nourine’s early resignation, there was therefore an unpleasant boycott mood in the air of the venerable Nippon Budokan at the unifying sports festival. Butbul was finally allowed to play his first fight in the second round, but remained without a medal.
“Against the basic Olympic principles”
Nourine and coach Amar Benikhlef announced their decision to an Algerian television station on Thursday evening and justified them with their political support for Palestine. The Olympic Committee of Algeria withdrew their accreditation for the Games.
It is not uncommon for athletes from certain Muslim countries not to compete against Israeli opponents, especially in martial arts. The situation was exacerbated both by the recent bombing of Gaza by the Israeli military and the Hamas rockets on Israeli cities and by tensions between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians.
In judo, Iran is said to have regularly exerted pressure on its fighters so that they would not compete against Israelis. The world association IJF had therefore banned Iran for four years. At the 2019 World Cup, Saeid Mollaei was forced by Iran’s association through threats against his family to deliberately lose in order not to have to face the Israeli Sagi Muki in the final. Mollaei fled and competes for Mongolia in Tokyo on Wednesday. When Iran was banned, the IJF had made it clear “to fight against all forms of discrimination in judo”. A boycott of Israeli fighters violates “the basic Olympic principles”.
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