First Sanction for Iran Due to Non-Competition Against Israeli Athletes

Alireza Karimi, a wrestler on the Iranian national team, has been banned from international competitions for six months, and Hamid Jamshidi, the coach of the national youth team, has been banned for two years. In the World Youth Championships hosted by Poland, if Karimi had defeated the Russian representative, he would have faced an Israeli opponent next. However, he was instructed to 'lose' and was defeated after taking multiple falls. Nevertheless, the advancement of Jabrailov from Russia to the finals meant that according to the bracket, Karimi and Israeli Kalashnikov were set to compete, a match that did not take place due to the Iranian wrestler declaring a false injury. The Israeli representative took third place, while the Iranian wrestler was eliminated from the tournament. On his Instagram page, Karimi posted a song by Dariush Eghbali and wrote: 'The last stronghold is silence, and our rights can never be taken.' He also received a direct message from Dariush Eghbali, which he shared on his Instagram. This was not the first time Karimi lost a world medal; he previously forfeited in the youth world championships hosted in Bulgaria in 2013. The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to not compete against Israeli athletes has been in place since 1983. During this time, hundreds of Iranian athletes have refused to compete, but this is the first time an official sanction has been imposed for an Iranian athlete's refusal to compete. Ayatollah Khamenei praised Alireza Karimi's intentional loss and gifted him an agate ring during a personal meeting. The leader of Iran told Karimi: 'You did a great job... I truly felt honored when I learned about your actions.' Ali Larijani, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, and Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, the custodian of Astan Quds, also praised Karimi's intentional loss during a personal meeting. The Iranian Wrestling Federation emphasized in its statement: 'The risk of suspension for the federation has been temporarily lifted, but the suspension file remains open, and it seems that all relevant agencies must find a principled solution to this problem that threatens Iranian sports.' The statement added: 'This issue will seriously threaten all of Iranian sports in more important arenas such as the Olympics. The positions of international bodies in similar future cases will be much more serious. We hope a solution will be considered by the relevant authorities.' In this context, 'sacrificing' Iranian athletes 'does not help Palestine in the slightest.' Social media users expressed outrage over the instruction 'you must lose' given to Alireza Karimi. Netanyahu addressed the Iranian wrestler: 'The bullies who forced you to lose will themselves lose.'