and was quoted as giving entirely different explanations in the Iranian and foreign media.
The Fars news agency said Mohammad Alirezaei dropped out of the international competition in Shanghai “to show support for Palestinians” after an Israeli swimmer was assigned to the same heat as Alirezaei.
But Alirezaei told The Associated Press he was simply too exhausted and could not compete.
International sports federations forbid anyone to drop out of a competition for political or racial reasons. The individual athlete or his entire federation can be sanctioned for such withdrawals.
The Shanghai swim meet was an official function of FINA, the international swimming federation.
After Alirezaei dropped out, FINA accepted his explanation, even though many pointed out that Alirezaei had dropped out of an Olympic meet in 2008 when he was about to face an Israeli.
But when FINA was shown the Iranian news coverage with the political explanation for Alirezaei failing to appear, FINA decided to re-open the issue.
FINA Executive director Cornel Marculescu said FINA had written to Iranian authorities seeking an explanation of Alirezaei’s decision not to contest the men’s 100-meter breaststroke heat in Shanghai.
“We are checking. I’m looking for the Iranian,” Marculescu said in an interview last Friday with Agence France Presse.
He said he became concerned when he saw a statement from Iranian sports authorities. “There was a declaration … that the policy is to boycott all events where Israel is swimming,” he said. “We cannot accept this because our constitution says no discrimination by politics, by religion, by sex, nothing.”
But there have been numerous such statements over the years. For example, last year, Mohammad-Ali Abadi, chairman of Iran’s National Olympic Committee, said all of Iran’s sports organizations follow the official policy “toward the Zionist regime and boycott all competitions in which Israeli athletes are present.”
Marculescu, a Romanian, said, “Politics can be somewhere else. The pool is a place to do something else, but no politics. I’ve sent them a letter [to Iran]. We want to understand what happened.”
Alirezaei and Israel’s Gal Nevo were both listed for heat four of the 100-meter breaststroke last Sunday. Nevo timed 1min 2.32sec, the 45th fastest in qualifying, but Alirezaei did not start the race.
Marculescu said any allegations of wrongdoing could be brought before FINA’s disciplinary panel. The Israeli swimming team just shrugged its shoulders when Alirezaei withdrew, and even seemed sympathetic to Alirezaei since he had no choice in the matter. But the World Jewish Congress has called for Iran’s suspension from international sports events, saying such withdrawals are not just unsportsmanlike but also “smack of anti-Semitism.”
Dozens of Iranian athletes have pulled out of international competitions since the revolution. It has involved wrestling, judo and other sports as well as swimming.
In Shanghai, Alirezaei insisted his withdrawal had nothing to do with Palestine and politics.
“My flight was exactly the day before my race, so I was so tired and drowsy, because I had to wait for my visa,” Alirezaei told The Associated Press two days after not starting the 100-meter breaststroke heat.
Speaking after completing his 50-meter breaststroke heat Tuesday, Alirezaei added that he had “no problem” competing against Israeli athletes, saying he did so at the junior worlds.
At the 2008 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted Alirezaei’s explanation that he was ill when he pulled out of an event against another Israeli, Tom Beeri, in the 100-meter.
Alirezaei said the fact that both withdrawals came against Israelis was merely a coincidence.
Asked about the latest withdrawal, IOC president Jacques Rogge told the AP Monday: “I’m sure, knowing the rules of FINA, the athletes will have to explain why and that most likely the athletes will have to come up with very good reasons.”
Nevo, the Israeli swimmer, said Tuesday, “FINA should do something about it, because it doesn’t look good. It embarrasses the whole competition. Me, personally, I don’t mind.”
