Iranian Boxers' Consecutive Failures in Olympic Qualifying Competitions

The Olympic boxing qualifying competitions continue with the successive elimination of Iranian representatives. These competitions are being held in China, and the top three in each weight category will earn a spot at the 2016 Olympics. So far, four Iranian representatives have been eliminated from the competition, with only three victories recorded for Iran. Of these three victories, two were against the Pitcairn Islands, which has a population of less than 60 people—equivalent to the population of a 12-unit apartment! Meanwhile, Alireza Esteki, the head coach of the Iranian national boxing team, has attributed his students' failures to the issue of judging, stating to Tasnim news agency: "The judging is suspicious and sometimes calculated and mafia-like." Armin Amjadiyan in the 56 kg category faced an opponent from Kyrgyzstan in his first match and was defeated in three rounds, thus being eliminated. Sajjad Kazemzadeh in the 69 kg category won against an opponent from the Pitcairn Islands to advance to the round of 16. Previously, Poya Navi in the 52 kg, Dana Ismailzadeh in the 60 kg, and Ismail Arameshi in the 64 kg categories had also been eliminated. Navi won against Charles Fauma from the Pitcairn Islands but was defeated in the second round by Huo Jiang Wan from China. Dana Ismailzadeh was disqualified against a boxer from South Korea by the judges, leading to a quick end to his matches. According to the International Boxing Federation (AIBA), in the continental qualifying competitions, three boxers from each weight category and a total of 30 boxers will qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Ismail Arameshi was eliminated in his first match against a Kyrgyz opponent. On Tuesday, Sajjad Kazemzadeh will fight Santos, the sixth-ranked boxer from the Philippines. Sajjad Moharabi in the 75 kg category, who started with a victory against a Tajik boxer, will face a Mongolian representative in the second round. In the 91 kg category, Salar Gholami, who had a bye in the first round, will face a Chinese opponent. In the super heavyweight category, Majid Sepahvand will compete against a Syrian boxer. These matches are ongoing in the city of Qianan, China, with 190 boxers from 30 countries participating and will continue until April 1. A strange point before the start of the competitions was the Iranian boxing federation's ignorance of the Olympic qualifying rules, as they intended to send a full team to China. The international federation also announced that countries should refrain from sending boxers who have already qualified. Given the qualification in the 81 kg category, there was no necessity to send Majid Haj Abasi, the 81 kg representative, and according to the rules, he was unable to accompany the national team. This obvious issue has been applied for years in all sports. Omid Ahmadi Sefa in the 49 kg category had also participated in competitions of another martial art last year and, according to regulations, could not go to China. Therefore, he also missed the opportunity to accompany the national team. If the officials of the boxing federation had recently taken office, it would not have been surprising, but Ahmad Nategh Nouri has been the president of the federation since 1989 and is the longest-serving president of a sports federation in Iran!