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Anorak News | Iran tells fighter to abandon sporting values, lose deliberately and avoid Israeli athlete

Iran tells fighter to abandon sporting values, lose deliberately and avoid Israeli athlete

by | 29th, November 2017

Alireza Karimi-Mashiani israel iran

 

Iran has set out to prove that sport is pointless. Iranian wrestler Alireza Karimi-Mashiani was winning a quarter-final fight in the under-23 world championships. Russian fighter Alikhan Zhabrailov looked set to lose the 86kg bout. The winner would take on Israel’s Uri Kalashnikov. A voice calls out, reportedly, “Alireza, you have to lose!”

“In a moment, my whole world seemed to come to an end,” Karimi tells the Iranian Students News Agency. “I was told that the Israeli wrestler defeated his American rival, and that I must lose to avoid facing an Israeli opponent. I have trained hard for months to win a gold medal, and it was easy for me to win.”

Poor sod. But no matter about your sporting prowess. The State loves you. You’re not an athlete. You’re a role model. Iran’s sports ministry posts a statement: “Your noble and heroic action in the world competition in Poland, abandoning the medal and the podium in support of the highest human values, is a source of pride and praise.”

What those values are is not noted. But we believe them to be not a lot unlike the values extolled at the 1936 Olympics. Front Page Mag goes further: “The Mullahs transform international sport into Jew-hate.”

Now those results in full.

 



Posted: 29th, November 2017 | In: News, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink