Iranian Judo Federation Willing to Compete with Israel

Tel Aviv, MINA – For the first time, Iranian Judo Federation is willing to compete with Israel. Iran on Saturday as delivered to International Judo Federation, will comply with Olympic regulations and be ready to compete with federated member states, including Israel.

The move was described as a historic decision, according to a Hebrew-language Israeli media report.

Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said Iranian Olympic Committee had promised International Judo Federation to follow Olympic rules and compete with athletes from all countries.

“This means that Iranian committee has promised to compete with Israeli athletes, something that has never happened in this match,” reported Alwatan Voice quoted by MINA.

Meanwhile, President International Judo Federation Marius Pfizer, in a statement welcomed Iran’s move, according to the same source.

Israeli United Judo President Moshe Ponte commented on Iran’s decision and called it a historic decision.

“We recently held several meetings with President of Pfizer, and this prompted Iran to cancel the boycott of their Israeli counterparts, that is what we have been working for a long time and now have got results,” he said.

“Iranians are committed to participating in all competitions and maintaining the spirit of sport,” Ponte said.

“We are very happy with that step, and we thank Lafizer for helping us reach today, because we helped in many other cases,” continued Ponte.

He hopes the decision will encourage other sports in Iran to make similar decisions.

Iranian athletes often avoid matches with Israeli athletes. Iran does not recognize the state of Israel, while Tehran also regards Israel as its main enemy.

In February, Iranian judo world champion, Saeed Moulay retired from semi-finals of Grand Slam judo tournament to avoid a match against Sagi Moki from Israel in final. (T/Sj/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)