Wrestling body investigating if Iranian threw match to avoid Israeli
Ali Reza Karimi won widespread praise in Iran for his ‘sacrifice’ in losing, rather than face Israel’s Uri Kalashnikov
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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland — Wrestling’s governing body said Friday it was investigating whether an Iranian threw a match to avoid facing an Israeli.
United World Wrestling announced that it is looking into irregularities surrounding a first-round match between Ali Reza Karimi of Iran and Alikhan Zhabrailov of Russia at the recent U-23 World Championships in Poland.
The international federation said several news outlets reported that Karimi was directed by his coaches Saturday to intentionally lose because Israel’s Uri Kalashnikov would have been Karimi’s second-round opponent.
UWW said its legal and ethics committees will review the matter in the coming weeks and make recommendations to the organization’s administrating body.
The wrestler has also acknowledged he was ordered to throw the fight and was very unhappy about it.
“In a moment, my whole world seemed to come to an end,” he said.
Israel and Iran are bitter adversaries and Iranian athletes traditionally refrain from competing against Israelis. Iran’s government usually rewards such behavior.
Karimi told ISNA that he was beating Russian Alikhan Zhabrailov when coaches told him to lose. “I tried hard for months to get the world gold medal,” he said. “Achieving a world medal is the only happiness for any of us.”
Iran’s government paid tribute to Karimi, praising him for his “noble and heroic action” and calling him “a source of pride and praise,” while the country’s wrestling federation called him a “hero” and extolled his “sacrifice.”
According to footage posted online, Karimi looked well ahead in his bout against Russia’s Alikhan Zabrailov, but then let himself be easily beaten.
The Iranian athlete seems to abandon the fight completely and lets himself be dominated after a voice shouts out in Persian: “You must lose, Ali Reza!”
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The hashtag #youmustlose was trending Monday in Iran, with comments both for and against his actions, some of them hostile to Iran’s authorities and others saluting his stand.
According to the results of the tournament, Russia’s Zabrailov won gold in the 86-kilo category, and Israel’s Kalashnikov took bronze.
The Times of Israel Community.