Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei has again competed in the match for about three months after the scandal over his forced defeat at the World Cup in Tokyo. At the Grand Slam in Osaka, the world champion of 2018 competed for the Refugee Team of the World Federation IJF and finished in seventh place in the class up to 81 kilograms.
In Tokyo, defending champion Mollaei, according to IJF, was instructed by Iran's Deputy Sports Minister Davar Zani to retire from the World Cup after his victory in the third round. Because in the case of the finals Mollaei would have to compete against the Israeli Sagi Muki - this should be prevented at all costs. However, he initially resisted the claim and went to the semifinals, but deliberately lost the fight, he said. As well as the subsequent fight for bronze.
Fearing repression Mollaei fled to Germany after the World Cup, where he was recognized as a refugee according to the IJF. The IJF closed Iran's association at the end of October, basing its decision on an Iranian violation of the IJF Code of Ethics and the Olympic Charter.
Muki congratulated Mollaei after his comeback in Osaka on Instagram. That Mollaei could compete for the refugee team was "a triumph of sport over politics," he wrote:
Check out this post on Instagram
I would like to congratulate Saeid Mollaei who competes today as part of the Grand Slam Osaka Refugee Team. This is a triumph of sports over politics. Thank you to the Israeli Judo, World and Olympics Association for their support.
A post shared by Sagi muki (@sagi_muki) on Nov 23, 2019 at 9:40 PST
Mollaei thanked in a video on the website of the World Association for its support and the opportunity to participate in the competitions. Regarding his seventh place, he said that he had not regained his former form since Tokyo, but he was confident that he would be able to achieve this again. On Instagram, he thanked Muki for his friendship.
