February 28, 2020
The president of Iran’s National Olympic Committee, Reza Salehi-Amiri, has charged that judoka Saeed Mollai (photo) has been taken “hostage” by the International Judo Federation (IJF). The Mehr news agency quoted Salehi-Amiri as saying, “We have filed a lawsuit against the IJF and the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the case April 8. We believe IJF President Marius Vizer has convinced Mollai to compete under a refugee flag at the Tokyo Olympics [this summer]. Our athlete has been taken hostage by them. Vizer then sent Mollai to Germany according to a pre-arranged plan. Mollai can come back to Iran without any problems and we welcome him with open arms.” However, Mollai is not competing under the Olympic refugee plan. He has accepted Mongolian citizenship and has begun competing under the Mongolian flag.
