December 29, 2017
The head of Iran Wrestling Federation said Saturday the country’s wrestling program is facing a serious threat of suspension by United World Wrestling (UWW) for ordering a wrestler to throw a match in November in order to avoid facing an Israeli.
Rasul Khadem, a former star wrestler and one-time Tehran City Council member, said, “Everybody in the country’s sport community knows that the international wrestling governing body is under the influence of big political powers and powerful economic enterprises, so that they can impose their will on it.”
Khadem said if it had not been for the Iran Wrestling Fed-eration’s efforts, Iran’s wrestling would have been suspended early in December.
Khadem said he went in person to the United World Wrestling Headquarters in Switzerland, and hoped that with his strong defense Iran’s wrestling would not be suspended. But he did not address the key point for the UWW, which is whether Iran will stop throwing matches to avoid facing Israelis.
Meanwhile, Iran’s problem with throwing matches to avoid Israelis was compounded last week when the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Mobin Abbasi, an Iranian boxer, had refused to face an Israeli boxer in a match at a competition in Azerbaijan. IRNA quoted Morteza Nazari, head of boxing in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, as announcing that.