Mobina Nematizadeh's Request for Unconditional Admission to Medical School Sparks Protests

After Mobina Nematizadeh, a bronze medalist in taekwondo at the 2024 Paris Olympics, requested unconditional admission to medical school, her request faced protests on social media. On Wednesday, August 24, she reiterated her request for admission without an entrance exam during a live television program. Previously, after winning the bronze medal at the Olympics, she had made a similar request, stating, "I have wanted to be a doctor since childhood. This is the only request I had from the President." Samira Alam-Panah, a political journalist at ILNA news agency, expressed her opinion that "as a citizen of this country, I am not satisfied with Mobina Nematizadeh entering medical school without taking the entrance exam. Because I have seen the impact of the entrance exam on children who had neither quotas nor enough money for tutoring classes." According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, Olympic medalists can only study without taking the entrance exam in physical education at Iranian universities. Based on a resolution from the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council on March 2, 1987, "all sports champions with gold, silver, and bronze medals from Olympic, world, and Asian competitions can continue their studies in sports sciences without taking the exam." Admission to Iranian universities is possible through a nationwide exam known as the "Konkur," which serves as a significant barrier for hundreds of applicants each year. Last week, Mobina Nematizadeh succeeded in defeating Dunia Ali Abotaleb from Saudi Arabia in both rounds of the women's taekwondo Olympic 2024 under 49 kg category, securing a third-place finish. After Nematizadeh's request to Masoud Pezeshkian for admission without an entrance exam, Mohsen Mo'tamedkia, the director of public relations at the Ministry of Sports and Youth, wrote on social media X: "According to the law, she can study in any university she wants in physical education." The public relations office of Tehran University also announced that Mohammad Ghaemi, the president of the university, welcomes Nematizadeh's unconditional admission, stating, "The laws allow for the unconditional admission of this pride of Iranian taekwondo." However, Tehran University did not specify the field for which such approval was granted. This request and the university's unclear approval have sparked protests regarding the lack of adherence to the law for entering difficult fields like medicine. Azadeh Mokhtari, a journalist, pointed out that "medalists can study without an entrance exam in sports sciences, not in any field they desire." According to this journalist, "Studying in sports sciences is their right, and allowing admission without an entrance exam in other fields takes away the rights of others. Again, the rulers know what is best for their country." Some social media users criticized Mobina Nematizadeh from this perspective, stating that she made this request while elite students like Ali Younesi and Amir Hossein Moradi are imprisoned, and "there is no justice." Ali Younesi, an elite student and holder of gold and silver medals in Olympiads, was arrested in 2020 along with Amir Hossein Moradi, another student from Sharif University of Technology, and each was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Their charges included "corruption on earth," "propaganda against the regime," and "collusion and conspiracy with the intent to act against national security," and the imprisonment of these two elite students drew widespread condemnation both inside and outside Iran. Following Ms. Nematizadeh's victory, Masoud Pezeshkian congratulated her on social media X, but no decision regarding her admission without an entrance exam to medical school has been announced yet. Previously, Kimia Alizadeh had also requested admission to the physiotherapy program after winning a medal at the 2016 Olympics, which was not approved.