Olympics tells 'Post' it will assess alleged Iran bias vs. Israel
Iranian “athletes were tortured and imprisoned for wanting to compete against Israeli athletes.”
By BENJAMIN WEINTHALThe Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower are illuminated with Olympic colours to mark 100 days countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Tokyo, Japan April 14, 2021(photo credit: REUTERS/ISSEI KATO)
The International Olympic Committee will examine allegations about Iranian-sponsored discrimination against Israeli athletes in response to a public letter authored by elite Iranian athletes who urged IOC action against Tehran.“The IOC takes note of the letter and continues to evaluate the alleged issues,” the IOC press office wrote the Post.Sardar Pashaei, former head coach of Iran’s Greco-Roman wrestling team and signee of the letter to the IOC, told the Post that “The IOC should tell us whether not being allowed to compete with Israeli athletes and the systematic gender and racial discrimination of athletes in Iran is against Olympic ideals. Keeping the Olympic charter in mind should guide their decisions and actions.“Those who support the Navid campaign want the International Olympic Committee to reach a consensus about the requests of Iranian athletes. The IOC did not act when the wrestler, Navid Afkari, was executed last fall, and the IOC has not responded to the campaign’s letter of March laying out many examples of Iranian athlete abuse.”Pashaei is one of the key organizers of the United for Navid campaign, which seeks justice for Afkari, who was hanged by the regime in a widely viewed extrajudicial killing in September 2020 for his role in protesting regime corruption.The human rights activist Pashaei, who won a world gold medal as a Greco-Roman wrestler for Iran, said that “the campaign has provided many more cases just this month. Though sport and politics have historically crossed paths, sport and human rights should be held at a higher standard.“The IOC under its German president Thomas Bach has faced intense criticism for failing to forcefully intervene to save Afkari and stop Iranian discrimination against Israeli athletes.Asked about the IOC statement to the Post, Rob Koehler, director-general of Global Athlete, an organization fighting to advance the rights of athletes, said it’s “such a meaningless response. The IOC has known about this issue for years and continues to do nothing. The IOC speaks of athletes’ rights, they speak of putting the athletes first, but their actions are a clear demonstration that stakeholders interests are far more important than protecting the No. 1 stakeholder, the athletes.”Koehler added that “they refused to act when wrestler Navid Afkari was executed, they refused to respond to the first submission sent to them on March 5 outlining multiple cases of athlete abuse, and now, based on more information provided, they simply continue to evaluate? What does that actually mean?”According to the United for Navid campaign letter sent to Bach, the organization enclosed “an additional 10 cases where athletes from the Islamic Republic of Iran have been forced to withdraw or throw matches to prevent them from competing against Israeli competitors.”The material sent to Bach also contained information on “the Iranian Olympic athletes [who were] forced to withdraw from races because an Israeli athlete was in the same heat; Iranian Olympic athletes forced to withdraw from or lose matches to avoid facing Israeli competitors in final events; coaches on numerous occasions witnessed Iranian athletes who were forced to lose games on purpose to avoid facing an Israeli competitor in international competitions; coaches have been threatened with arrest should they speak out; world champion athletes were required to fake injuries to avoid competing against Israeli athletes; and athletes were tortured and imprisoned for wanting to compete against Israeli athletes.”The letter added that “Athletes have been fleeing Iran to safely compete for other countries, and female athletes that refuse to wear a hijab while playing their sport are being forced to flee the country and their families in Iran are being threatened.”Mariam Memarsadeghi, an Iranian-American and senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, said that “the IOC digs its heels on willful inaction against the Islamic Republic’s violations of the Olympic charter. Every nation and every athlete should heed their conscience and demand the ouster of this regime from the games. A regime that officially requires antisemitic hate for its athletes and executes champions who dare protest for freedom is antithetical to the spirit of sport and the Olympics.”
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