Iran has given Judo world champion Arash Miresmaeili a $125,000 (70,000 pounds) reward, saying he sacrificed a gold medal at the Athens Olympics by refusing to fight an Israeli, a sports official says. "He would definitely have won a gold medal if he had taken part," the sports official, who declined to be named, said on Tuesday. "By refusing to fight, Miresmaeili followed the policies of the country," the official added. Iran has refused to recognise the Jewish state's right to exist since its 1979 Islamic revolution. The International Judo Federation had considered a sanction against Miresmaeili during the Games but concluded that he had been overweight for the fight and could not have taken part. The International Olympic Committee also did not take any action. Do you believe they should have? And with Miresmaeili eventually being scratched because he was overweight.... he gets $125,000 !!
Well it apparently is not the first time Iranians have declined to fight against Israeli opponents as it also happened at the 2001 world judo championships. Seems though that Miresmaeili was suspected of intentionally gaining weight to avoid fighting his opponent and the IJF has no rule for penalising overweight athletes. You say a "gesture"?? How about being compensated by Iran, and being rewarded for blowing off the competition with the same bonus he would have been in line to receive had he won the gold medal..... a compensation for his stance.
It would be nice if it was part of some sort of concillitory gesture, which it may be - a refusal to fight even though there is personal loss. We live in hope!
There are somethings bigger that the olympics - Man's love for his brother man hopefully being one. I don't endorse the state rewarding the guy though, it then becomes propaganda.. Perhaps Eric not running on a Sunday in "Chariots of Fire" is a similar stance?
But do we honestly know that it was Miresmaeili's personal choice not to compete against the Israeli? It appears to have been a state-sanctioned act which undermined the spirit of this competition.... why athletes gather for the Olympics. An IJF spokesman said it best, "At the Olympics you have to share the values of the Olympic spirit." There are a record 202 National Olympic Committees represented in Athens. If Iran wants to play by its own rules, the IOC would be better off with 201."
The Olympics is no stranger to falling foul of both governmental and corporate politics: Coca Cola (GmbH) were the German bottlers for Coke under the leadership of the CEO Max Keith (pronounced Kite). Coke sponsored the 1936 Nazi Olympics where Hitler showcased his Aryan vision to the world, while hiding the "Don't shop at Jewish shops" posters. Coca Cola GmbH sought to be associated with the Nazis, it became a bit of a joke that if Hitler or a high ranking Nazi was on the front cover of a magazine Coke would advertise on the back. Coke advertised on billboards, that were by the Berlin stadiums, so people attending Goebbel's rallies had to walk past them. I think the spirit of the Olympics died a long time ago...
How on earth does "Coke" fit in? When did it become a country? A bit of a pessimistic Nihlistic Technofetishist ?
Coke is one of the olympic sponsors (and world cup too) for that matter and havs a lot of say in the Olympics. Let's not Pretend the olympics isn't: a) Corrupt b) About money I picked on coke as an example of an Olympic "swayer" - there are many others. Pessimistic? Every silver lining has a cloud
Miresmaeili is a former world medal winner at his weight. It is inconceivable that a player at this level would be (I think it was) 2 kg overweight, thats totally deliberate and the IJF should take some form of sanction against him. Col
KC, I see both sides of the story, but Richie has a real point about the Games being so corrupt and politicized these days. I used to love watching the olympics when I was a child, the first games I remember seeing was the 1968 Mexico games. Even then there was the black panther thing, 72' Munich the farce of the basketball game and the athletes being murdered, the 80 and 84 boycots. I just don't see it as a real big deal anymore. All the medal controversies, the skating scandals, the Salt Lake City bribary scandals by the americans. It has no realistic ideals anymore. Even 2008 in Beijing may be scarred, Beijing may not allow Taiwan to compete. I watch the olympics only for individual events, not even a whole sport, just an event. I didn't watch the opening or closing ceremony, that used to be some of my favorite parts to watch. The kicker was I was at dinner in a sports restaurant here in Wisconsin and there were people cheering AGAINST the mens basketball team in the game on tv. I was really sad. Regarding the Iranian. He chose politics over sportsmanship. I don't know if the IOC can sanction anyone, I think they should if its in the rules. If Iran wants to pay him, they can. We pay our athletes to train in many cases.
This stuff has gone on for years. How is what the Iranian done any different to the americans Boycotting the Moscow olympics or china boycotting the Olympics because of Taiwan
Well then Iran could have also "boycotted" ("prior to") or otherwise not be represented at the Olympics rather than devising what seemed to be a plan (weight gain) so as athlete would be disqualified.
Here I agree with KC, if he doesn't want to face an israeli, he shouldn't have entered in the first place. And then to 'be overweight' when the draw is made is a cowards way out. If he is going to withdraw for politics, he should have stood up like a man and said what the real reason was for his withdrawal. :bang:
Also see here: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=310080&cc=5901 A similar thing in the European soccer/football* Champions league. *Delete as appropriate.
And the story gets worse! I KNEW there was something screwy going on around here! They're rewarding this guy for perpetuating racism...So much for Mutual Benefit and Welfare. One of the senseis at my dojo thinks that Iran should be disqualified from international competition for the next four years for this stunt. Comments?
I still don't see why they don't just stand up and say they are not prepared to fight an Isreali, if you are going to make a political statement why not do it properly. To gain weight intentionally or feint injury seems to defeat the point. K
