Iran Judo Suspension UPHELD By Court Of Arbitration In Sport

The 4-year ban of Iranian athletes has been upheld by the court of arbitration in sport after it was challenged by the Islamic Republic judo federation of Iran. The turbulent country has been involved in a seemingly non-ending saga of appeals and bans which has now finally been put to rest.

The issue began when Iran ordered its athletes to no-show judo matches against Israeli opponents. No single reason has been given as to why this is, but it is easy to read between the lines of the political situation between the two countries.

The smoking gun behind this incident was the Iranian athlete Saeid Mollaei who has now defected to represent Mongolia. Mollaei claims that he was ordered to lose matches by the Islamic republic judo federation in order to avoid meeting Israeli opponents later on in the bracket.

Initially, the IJF had banned Iran indefinitely until their policy towards Israel was changed. Strangely enough, the court of arbitration in sport overruled this decision and instead gave Iran a backdated ban to 2019, ending in 2023. This week, the ban was confirmed by the court and Iranian athletes will not be competing until October 2023.

It should be noted that this ban only applies to IJF events, Iranian athletes will still be able to compete in the Olympics, although with the Olympic games taking place in 2024, this is irrelevant unless the ban were to be extended.