Judo, 10-year disqualification for the Algerian Fethi Nourine: he refused to face Israeli at the Games

No political or religious propaganda in sport. Nor at the Games. For this the Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine has been suspended from the International Judo Federation (IJF) for ten years. The thirty-year-old athlete in the -73 kg category had in fact retired from the Tokyo Olympics on July 23, publicly motivating the decision by the fact that he was not willing to face an Israeli athlete, Tohar Butbul. Hence the heavy penalty, for him and for his coach Amar Benikhlef.

The decision

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Nourine said his political support for the Palestinian cause made it impossible for him to compete. The two were supposed to compete on July 26, after the eventual victory against the Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool. After a first temporary exclusion from competitions, the IJF had formed a commission of inquiry, which has now concluded its work: it is clear that the two – according to a press release from the same international federation – “used the Olympic Games as platform for protest and promotion of political and religious propaganda, which is a clear and serious violation of the IJF statutes, the IJF Code of Ethics and the Olympic Charter. Therefore, in this case no other sanction can be imposed than a severe suspension “. The provision, valid until 23 July 2031, can be challenged at the Sports Arbitration Tribunal. It is not the first time that Fethi Nourine retires for not facing an Israeli judoka: it had already happened at the 2019 World Cup, also in Tokyo.