There was great excitement last night (Tuesday) in Israel, with the arrival of the Iranian refugee team, ahead of the Tel Aviv Judo Grand Slam. Long before the wheels of the plane touched the ground in Lod, the members of the team did not stop getting excited because they were on their way to a new destination for them, which is a few hours away Before, they weren't at all sure that they could reach it, and they filled their Instagram stories with a bunch of pictures from the plane announcing that they were on their way to the Holy Land.
After landing, the person who came to greet them was the chairman of the Israeli Judo Association, Moshe Ponti, who waited for them near the passport control, to see that everything was fine and that they entered the country without any problems, when the athletes, the coach and the accompanying doctor gave Ponti a warm hug and did not stop thanking him .
"Look, we are in Israel," declared Iranian coach Vahid Sarlak several times.
"It was difficult and we didn't believe until the last moment that we got the visa. Our flights have been canceled in the past, but coming here is something special for us and means a lot for Israel and Iran," he said.
While the Iranian Mohammad Rashnonzahad (up to 60 kg), who immigrated to the Netherlands in 2017, waited for his suitcase, Majid Kaban, who decided three years ago to follow in the footsteps of Said Moulay and left Iran, and today lives and trains in Scotland, talked to the chairman.
"My family is still in Iran and it's hard for me to be in touch with them," said the 23-year-old judoka.
"It's not easy this situation. I'm alone and sometimes I want to tell them something and even update them on how the day went, but it's hard to catch them, even though I know they're fine."
After everyone had collected their equipment, quite a few people who had returned to Israel, began to ask how to resolve the commotion, and when they found out that these were Iranian athletes who had left their country and decided to live as refugees, in order to fulfill their Olympic dream and compete anywhere in the world, they approached them, and congratulated them for coming to Israel, they were told How brave they are in what they did and I wish them success in the competition.
The delegation went out to the reception hall, not before Sarlak told the team: "We did it", there in the hall, Avi Benvanishti, the deputy head of the sports director, was also waiting for them.
Benvanishti talked a little with each member of the delegation and said: "I had no doubt that they would enter, but I came to see it happen anyway. This is the first time that a delegation of refugees has arrived here and we are happy to host them."
Those who were still waiting outside were the crew of the Iran International TV channel, a Persian-language station that broadcasts to 40 million viewers in Iran and expatriates around the world, when they even sent a special team from London to cover the historic arrival and intend to do live broadcasts during the days of the competition.
Today (14:00), the draw for the competition will be held at Bloomfield Stadium, when the refugee team will know who their opponents will be in the competition.
No matter what happens on the mat, they have already won, by the very moment they arrived here.
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