The refusal of Arab and Muslim athletes to face their Israeli counterparts has become common
A Jordanian athlete withdrew from a taekwondo championship in Bulgaria to avoid facing an Israeli opponent, the Middle East Monitor.
Maysir Al-Dahamsheh, a member of the Jordanian junior women’s taekwondo team, took the initiative on Sunday after reaching the final of the World Cadet Taekwondo Championships.
His withdrawal comes two months after a similar move by Jordanian national fencer Eyas Al-Zamer, who withdrew from the World Junior Fencing Championship in the United Arab Emirates so as not to have to face an Israeli.
Last summer, it was a Jordanian national table tennis player who did the same at the World Table Tennis Championships in Slovenia.
The refusal of Arab and Muslim athletes to face their Israeli counterparts has become common among those who represent countries that do not have diplomatic relations with the Jewish state.
Last week, Algerian footballer Ahmed Touba refused to accompany his team, İstanbul Basaksehir, to a game against Israeli team Maccabi Netanya in the second leg of the preliminary round of Europa Conference League matches. He had also refused to take part in the first leg in Istanbul on July 21.
After banning its athletes from competing against Israelis, the Iranian Judo Federation was handed a four-year suspension by the International Judo Federation for “repeated and serious violations” of the organization’s statutes and values. Olympism.
It was the second time that the IJF imposed sanctions on the Iranian Judo Federation in this case.
