Olympic karate champion Sajad Ganjazadeh has criticized Iran's policy of preventing the country's athletes from competing against Israelis.
Ganjazada, who won gold in the men’s over 75kg category in Tokyo 2020, posted an Instagram post, which was deleted within hours, complaining that the ban forces Iranian athletes to participate only in Asian competitions.
Iran is one of a number of Asian countries that do not recognize Israel, with Iranian athletes often retiring from competitions to avoid facing opponents from Israel.
"We can not stand it anymore," Ganjazada said in an Instagram post.
"Not competing is harder than competing."
The ban is non-legislative and instead enforced through pressure from officials as well as Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who reiterated the apparent benefits of this policy after the end of Tokyo 2020 and pledged to help athletes punished by international federations for refusing to face Israelis.
The # Iranian karate champion Sajjad Ganjzadeh, conducts the #islam'ista regime for boycott of the #israeliian athletes https://t.co/zLe6tfsfrD pic.twitter.com/CGnMLj5Wcb
- I Tehran Ragazzi (@RagazzidiTehran) April 20, 2022
Amir from the Iranian Dizade, winner of a gold medal of the Asian Games, and Israeli Ahmad Abu Bassel both competed in the last karate competition of the last Premier League in Tosinhus but in separate categories so it was not possible for them to meet on the mat.
Mahdizada competed in the up to 67 kg category while Basel was registered in the over 84 kg category.
Iran withdrew from the World Karate Championships last year in Dubai, but the World Karate Association insisted it was due to corona problems and not the presence of Israeli athletes.
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