September 06, 2019
Although a few months ago, Iran’s judo federation pledged in writing that it would no longer refuse to face Israeli competitors, Israel’s judo federation says Iran did just that last month, which allowed an Israeli to win a gold medal.
The chairman of the Israel Judo Association said August 29 that Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei was forced to throw his semifinal match against Belgium’s Matthias Casse the previous day at the World Judo Championships in Tokyo in order to avoid facing Israel’s Sagi Muki in the final.
Mollaei, 27, subsequently refused to fly home from Japan with the team. Instead, he flew to Berlin where he said he owns an apartment and legal residency. He said he will no longer compete for Iran and is asking the International Olympic Committee to allow him to compete under the Olympic flag in 2020.
But Mollaei said his family was put under threat before he left the Iranian team. It is not clear what will happen to them.
In an interview after he flew to Germany, Mollaei said, “I love Iran very much, but winning a medal is the most important thing for me.”
Most news reports in Europe asserted that he was “defecting” and “seeking asylum,” but Mollaei said that was not true because he had legal residency in Germany.
In the past, Iran has forbidden its athletes to compete against Israelis. In May, the International Judo Federation said it had reached an agreement with Iran to end the boycott, though the head of Iran’s national Olympic committee later denied it.
Mollaei has been accused of faking injuries and intentionally losing fights in the past to avoid facing the Israeli Muki. The two men are rated among the best judokas in their weight division.
Moshe Fonti, head of the Israel Judo Association, told Israel’s Army Radio that an hour before the August 28 semifinals in the 81-kilo weight class, the Israeli team heard that Mollaei, ranked No. 1 in the world, “intended to continue the contest, even if he had to face Sagi Muki at the final. We heard he’d asked the head of the Iranian judo association to ensure his family was kept safe” from the anger of hardliners.
In the semifinals, Mollaei was paired with Casse of Belgium and Israel’s Muki faced Egyptian Mohamed Abdelaal. When Muki defeated Abdelaal (the Egyptian’s refusal to shake Muki’s hand caused further controversy), it meant that if Mollaei defeated the Belgian he would face the Israeli for the gold.
“From what we understand, within a short time Iranian intelligence officials came both to his home in Iran and to the judo arena [in Japan] and warned him,” Fonti said.
“I don’t know what happened there, but eventually he lost both battles,” Fonti said, referring to the fight against Casse and the subsequent fight for the bronze against Luka Maisuradze of Georgia. “He didn’t make it to the final with Sagi and he didn’t make it to the podium.”
Israeli judo commentator Miri Nevo said it was clear that Mollaei carried out what she called “a calibrated defeat” to ensure he lost in the semifinal. She sniped that if the Iranians were so patriotic and hostile to Israel, they should “try to beat us” in sports.
Muki eventually defeated Casse and was named world champion, the first male Israeli athlete to reach the top. Mollaei, who had been reigning world champion after winning last year’s championships, ended the contest in fifth place. If he had taken fourth or above he would have had to stand on the podium as Israel’s national anthem was played in honor of Muki.
Fonti did not blame Mollaei for his actions, saying that, though he “had promised the head of the International Judo Federation he would compete,… there were people at his family’s home in Iran. You can’t judge an athlete in such a situation.”
Muki said Mollaei was an “excellent” sportsman, while Israel’s team coach Oren Smadja said he was “a terrific guy.”
The conclusion that Mollaei had thrown his fight with Casse to avoid facing Muki was prevalent in outlets covering the contest.
The website Inside the Games noted that Mollaei, having “looked unstoppable in the preliminaries,” suddenly claimed to have suffered a head injury ahead of his fight with Casse and came to the fight “wearing a huge bandage on his head.” He “barely attempted a throw during the bout, before being thrown by Calle’s first real attack.”
French site RMC Sport said Mollaei “threw the semifinal heat after seeing [Muki’s] qualification for the final.” It also reported that “in the morning, in the warm-up room, witnesses described Saied Mollaei as extremely agitated, on the verge of tears, citing the danger to his family.”
There were reports that prior to losing his fight against Casse, Mollaei had threatened during earlier stages of the competition to quit if he was paired up with Muki.
