Yeah, its definatley bad.. Failing to recognize another country is poor. The problem really comes from athletes belonging to countries and countries then having political agendas. I wait for the day when people are aggregated by ideas and not geography. Oh, I got all PoMo there for a second!
i couldn't agree more - prior to this Olympics, Oxfam were running a 'fair trade' campaign that questioned how exactly the manufacturing of sports equipment and clothing in sweatshops fits in with the 'Olympic spirit'. It's also worth noting that the next Olympics will be held in China, a nation that is consistently criticised for its human rights abuses and its occupation of Tibet, by the US, UN and AI, to name but a few. Over 1 million Tibetans are estimated to have died at the hands of the Chinese since their occupation, yet despite this and the widespread reporting of continuing human rights abuses, the IOC chooses to ignore the 'politics'. Is ignoring murder and torture really in the 'Olympic spirit'? To refuse to allow the games to take place in China would seem to me to be more inkeeping with fairplay and decency, etc. I appreciate the point about the Iranian Judo player, and watching the opening and closing celebrations as well as some of the games really highlighted sports' capacity to bring people together, but IMO, the 'Olympic spirit' has been compromised and undermined by the IOC etc. more than it ever will be by athletes.
He did say he didn't want to fight for political reasons. What about the US atheletes boycoting the 1980 Moscow olympics for political reasons?
Bear in mind that if he had fought an Israeli he probably woud have gotten a 'special welcome' back home. Being overweight was probably his personal best option out of the situation. Col
I've read that the guy was told not to fight by the Iranian Authorities, and to be quite honest I wouldnt blame the guy for backing out if that was the case. I dont think its advisable to upset the Iranian authorities, especially where matters like this are concerned (ie middle eastern politics).
If the *fill in the blank* athlete didn't want to compete against an israeli, then they shouldn't be there in the first place. I have no problem with a team boycotting the games. I wish it wouldn't happen, but I'd prefer them being a no-show than getting all political once they are there. Truth be told, the iranian probably would have loved to go against the jewish guy. But if he had lost? Probably wouldn't be pretty.
He would have known merely by looking at the draw. afaik it is illegal for Iranians to come into contact with Israelis, we certainly would not want him to be prosecuted when he returned home. He gets his money and looks honourable, his government has given him reparation and taken the heat. He keeps his career and there is no long term damage to any parties involved. No harm done, I say. btw I seem to remember a closed door meeting a while back for a football draw where the whole world knew it was fixed to keep Iraq and the US apart.
sorry for getting away from the real issue on this particular thread, but in response to the above quote... China does have a bad human rights record, it's a fact, as any member of AI (or anyone else with an active, and not passive, interest in human rights will tell you), and while it's not a competition, it's easily comparable with Iran, but less widely publicised.
2 Minds I have to say i'm in two minds about this issue. When i first heard i thought and felt that the competitor should have been punished severely, as this is exactly what the olympics is all about stopping. It is supposed to help bring all the people of the world together in a common ground, sports. The laws of his country are quite clear on the issue of him compting against an israeli judoka and I believe it is in his best interests considering the reputation of his nation. I also feel that his nation should be punished for this law, by perhaps a 12 month ban from all international sports? But that might be punishing people who would compete against an israeli competitor, and is that really fair? My immediate thought is to come down hard on any country or sportsman who has this attitude, but punishing the country could hurt decent people only wanting to compete, and punishing the people because of their contries law isn't right. In the instance of intentionally gaining weight to be exempt from competing is wrong and if it was the competitor, punish him, the country, punish them. Dropping out for racist political reasons (in my oppinion) they should at least take what is coming to them and not try to hide behind official rules. Thanks Sauron
Well I guess the Japanese featherweight Uchishiba was ecstatic about the absence of the Iranian and managed to get the judo gold for Japan .... I guess he had a real bad year prior and failed to qualify for last year's Osaka world championships.... he was in such a slump that he considered retirement. He won in the 66kg and under class with a knockout ippon win over Slovakia's Jozef Krnac. But of course, Uchishiba's victory was overshadowed by Miresmaeili's surprising failure to make the weight ... and the rest of the controversy that followed.
