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The Olympic rings in Nippon Budokan, where the iodu fights take place.
Fethi Nourine will not compete here
Photo:
Vesa Moilanen / dpa
At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, an Algerian judoka was suspended from the international judo federation. Fethi Nourine and his coach had previously told the Algerian media that he was withdrawing to avoid a possible second-round duel with the Israeli Tohar Butbul. Nourine would have fought against the Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool in the first round of the class up to 73 kilograms on Monday.
The Algerian Olympic Committee then announced that it would withdraw Nourine and his trainer from the accreditation for the Olympics and want to send them home.
The world federation stated that the statements of Nourine and his coach were "in total contrast to the philosophy" of the judo federation.
Judo is based on solidarity, respect and friendship, so any form of discrimination cannot be tolerated.
The case is being investigated and a disciplinary committee should then decide on further consequences.
Read everything you need to know about the Olympic Games in the Olympic Update.
Nourine and his trainer justified the decision by saying that they support the Palestinians.
The background to the statements is likely to be the Middle East conflict.
Escalation in the Middle East conflict
In May, Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas, which rules the Palestinian Authority Gaza Strip, had fierce fighting. The outbreak of violence was the worst escalation in the ongoing conflict in years, Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli towns, and Israel responded with air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip. There is now a ceasefire.
As a result of the Middle East conflict, there are repeated cases in sport like the present one. This is not the first time Nourine has withdrawn from a competition to avoid an opponent from Israel. He had already done that at the 2019 World Cup in Tokyo. Judo experienced something similar when the Iranian federation refused to allow its fighters to compete against Israelis. The Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei had claimed that he had been ordered to lose in the semifinals of the World Cup in Tokyo in 2019 in order not to have to compete against the Israeli world champion Sagi Muki. The international judo federation then suspended Iran for four years.
Mollaei fled to Germany after the controversy, and since then has competed in Tel Aviv, among other places.
He is now starting for Mongolia at the Olympic Games.
Mollaei will kick off on Tuesday.
hba / AP / dpa
