Iran's Women's National Football Team May Miss Olympics Due to Political Issues

With a year and a half remaining until the 2020 Olympics in Japan, increasing signs of a "problem" for Iranian athletes with Israeli opponents have already embroiled Iranian sports. There is even a possibility that the Iranian women's national football team may deliberately miss the chance to participate in the qualifying competitions. ISNA reported on Tuesday, February 19, that since the Iranian women's national football team is placed in a group for the second round of Olympic qualifying hosted by Palestine, Iranian officials have stated that the Iranian team cannot travel to Palestine. Palestine, referring to the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, has been chosen to host the group consisting of Iran, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Palestine. The Palestinian Authority has selected the city of Al-Ram, near Ramallah and about 20 kilometers from Jerusalem, to hold the preliminary women's football competitions. Security control of all borders of the West Bank is in the hands of Israel, and Iranian athletes wishing to reach this part of Palestinian territory must obtain Israeli visas and pass through Israeli security checks. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the existence of Israel and has banned its citizens from traveling to "occupied territories." Hossein Abdi, the technical advisor for Iran's women's football teams, told ISNA that Tehran emphasized in correspondence with the Asian Football Confederation, prior to the draw for the second round of Olympic qualifying, that it "cannot and does not want to compete in occupied Palestine." However, according to ISNA, some officials in Iranian women's football have expressed hope that the Asian Football Federation will either move Iran to another group or agree to hold Iran's matches in another country. With only seven weeks remaining until the start of these competitions, the Asian Football Confederation has yet to respond to Iran's request. The global sports community, which has previously warned the Islamic Republic of Iran to refrain from politicizing its sports, may not let Iran go unpunished as the signs of the Iranian government's anti-Israeli policy in its sports become more apparent. Apparently, Iran has already raised the possibility of the voluntary withdrawal of its women's national football team from the qualifying competitions to avoid facing sanctions. Iranian female athletes have faced a wide range of problems due to political issues, from significantly lower budgets compared to men's sports to needing permission from their husbands to compete in foreign travels, but becoming embroiled due to the hosting of the competition in Palestinian territory has been less common for an Iranian team until now. Jibril Rajoub, a senior political figure and head of the Palestinian Football Federation for the past ten years, has made significant efforts to have Palestine host competitions in both men's and women's football qualifying before the Olympics. Mr. Rajoub, who visited Iran five years ago, has not commented on the possibility of the Iranian women's national football team not coming to the West Bank. According to the Etemad Online website, Tayebeh Siawoshi, an Iranian parliament member, claimed that the "Zionist occupying regime" has tried to create this problem for Iranian women's sports by hosting the competitions with "financial offers." Israel has no role in the sports affairs of the Palestinian Authority; rather, Mr. Rajoub has been a formidable opponent for Israeli sports officials in the difficult battle of convincing many Palestinian positions to global institutions against Israel and has encouraged them to treat Palestinian territories as a country and transfer parts of Asian and international football competitions to the West Bank. The new dilemma of an Iranian sports team in connection with Israel has arisen while Davood Azarnoush, the head of the Iranian Sports Basij Organization, said this week, "We hope Israel will be erased and destroyed before the Olympics so that we can all be at ease." According to ISNA, this senior IRGC member made these remarks in response to the possibility of Iranian judo athletes facing Israeli opponents in the Olympics. Saeed Mollaei, the 81 kg judo champion from Iran, had to lose to a weak and obscure opponent from Kazakhstan last week at the Paris Grand Slam to avoid facing an Israeli opponent. Saeed Mollaei, who showed signs of deep sorrow on his face and movements, settled for a bronze medal in Paris. This was the second time in two months that Mr. Mollaei had given up a gold medal to avoid facing an Israeli opponent. The head of the Sports Basij Organization told Rasoul Khadem, the then-head of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, last year that competing with an Israeli athlete "in any discipline is a red line for the regime." The Olympics will be held in the summer of 2020, in August 1399, in Japan. Israeli sports teams in all disciplines are forced to compete within Europe due to the policies of Asian and Muslim countries.