From the Times (£):
An Iranian wrestler is being lionised by his country for deliberately losing a match at a junior world championships so that he would not have to fight an Israeli opponent in the next round.
Alireza Karimi was ahead in his quarter-final bout in the under-23 world championships against a Russian, Alikhan Zhabrailov. Then news came in that in another quarter-final of the 86kg category Uri Kalashnikov, an Israeli, had won. In a video of the event posted online, a voice can clearly be heard off camera saying “Alireza, you have to lose!”....
Iran not only refuses to recognise Israel but will not allow any interaction with Israelis. Last month a teenage Iranian chess player, Borna Derakhshani, was accepted to play for England after being banned by Iran for playing an Israeli in a tournament.
Karimi, 23, while criticising Israel, questioned whether his coach’s decision amounted to oppression of his own ambitions and hard work. However, he was honoured for deliberately losing at the tournament in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz at the weekend.
“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,” the sports ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
The national wrestling federation said that Karimi was committed to putting his country first. “It is the second time that you have risen up against the oppression of the Palestinian people by abandoning your rights in an act of absolute submission,” it said.
An act of absolute submission. For an Islamic theocracy there can be no higher praise.
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