Iran’s judo federation calls ban unfair

Iran’s judo federation calls its suspension from international competition “unfair” and says it “was a pre-planned scenario,” official news agency IRNA reports.

“I believe that suspending Iran’s judo was a pre-planned scenario and unfortunately one of our athletes got involved and intensified” the problem, IRNA quotes the head of Iran’s judo federation Arash Miresmaeili as saying.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) said earlier it banned Iran for allegedly ordering a judoka to lose at the world championships to avoid facing an Israeli competitor.

Saeid Mollaei, who entered last month’s event in Tokyo as the reigning world champion in the -81kg class, said he was ordered to throw his semifinal rather than risk facing an Israeli in the final.

Mollaei lost to Belgian Matthias Casse who in turn lost to Sagi Muki of Israel in the final.

— AFP