I suppose it’s better than getting his butt kicked by an Israeli. You would think that they would want to show what Allah could do against Yahweh.
The global wrestling organization has banned an Iranian athlete for six months after he threw a match to avoid facing an Israeli, according to the BBC. The United World Wrestling Disciplinary Chamber announced the decision on Friday.
Alireza Karimachiani was competing against Russian Alikhan Zhabrilov in the under 23 competition in November last year. He had been winning when his coach ordered him to lose. If he had won the match, he would have competed against an Israeli in the next round.
Karimachiani has now been banned for six months. His coach, Hamidreza Jamshidi, was banned until November 2019. Iran intends to protest the ban.
“Karimachiani, on instruction of his coach Jamshidi, wilfully lost his 1/8 finals match against Alikhan Zhabrilov,” the chamber said in a statement. “Both wrestler and coach were found to have acted in direct violation of the International Wrestling Rules… and the UWW Disciplinary Regulations.”
Iran has no diplomatic relations with Israel. Like many Muslim states, Iran refuses to face Israel at sporting events. In 2016 in the World Youth Championships in Hungary, Iranian wrestler Yarahmadi Peyman was forced to fake an injury in order to avoid fighting an Israeli. The exchange with his coach, captured on TV by Al Jazeera, showed the young man driven to tears.
Via Clarion