Hard times coming for Iranian teams

[akzent]

With reference to the 2 cases, in which Iranian wrestlers got "injured" and didn't show up vs. Israeli opponents at the 2011 worlds, yesterday Fila added a new paragraph to the wrestling rules:

http://www.fila-official.com/images/...tion_rgles.pdf

Question is: How can a med. doctor prove that "a wrestler simulates an injury for political reasons"? Has Fila elaborated a medical test to detect the political nature of a fake injury? )))

[JudoWrestler]

I don't understand why it is such a big issue if an Iranian wrestler does not compete against an Israeli. The Israeli automatically wins. How can they be upset with this?

I also don't understand how a country who's athletes almost always get eliminated in the first round have such a big say with Fila when the other country is a wrestling powerhouse. How does Israel have such a big say and Iran has none at all?

This sport is an Iranian sport, Iran is the home of this sport, most of the athletes who win have some sort of Iranian background but this country has no say and instead a country like Switzerland (which is nothing in wrestling) has the power. This all needs to change and th wrestling governing body should be moved to Iran.



This is just another case of the very frequent anti-iranian sentiment shown throughout the world.

[gutfirst]

not sure it's the isreali's or swiss that have a problem. i think it's fila's way of trying to eliminate or reduce political views being expressed during competition?

[Snackem]

If the Iranians are so much more dominant than the Israelis (which looking at the results you can't argue with) then why not just wrestle them and not have an issue at all? If they don't want (or the powers that be in Iran don't want their wrestlers to) then why not just not attend international competitions when Israel sends a team. It seems obvious to me that the Iranians (their government at least) wants to make an issue out of this or they would just wrestle (and most likely beat) the Israelis.

[JudoWrestler]

If the Iranians are so much more dominant than the Israelis (which looking at the results you can't argue with) then why not just wrestle them and not have an issue at all? If they don't want (or the powers that be in Iran don't want their wrestlers to) then why not just not attend international competitions when Israel sends a team. It seems obvious to me that the Iranians (their government at least) wants to make an issue out of this or they would just wrestle (and most likely beat) the Israelis.

You don't understand this is not about wrestling this is about politics. The regime in Iran does not like Israel, this will not change any time soon. This is not a choose of the Iranian wrestlers I am sure they would have no problem wrestling Israel. I just cannot understand why they cannot accept the Iranians forfeiting the match. The Israelis get to progress and the only real loser is the Iranian wrestler, but instead they want to punish Iranian wrestlers further by disqualifying the whole team.

This is a blatant anti-Iranian policy. In the modern era you cannot say anything against black people or Jewish people but you can attack and punish Iranians as much as you like. This occurs in many forms not just in wrestling.

[Snackem]

You don't understand this is not about wrestling this is about politics. The regime in Iran does not like Israel, this will not change any time soon. This is not a choose of the Iranian wrestlers I am sure they would have no problem wrestling Israel. I just cannot understand why they cannot accept the Iranians forfeiting the match. The Israelis get to progress and the only real loser is the Iranian wrestler, but instead they want to punish Iranian wrestlers further by disqualifying the whole team.

This is a blatant anti-Iranian policy. In the modern era you cannot say anything against black people or Jewish people but you can attack and punish Iranians as much as you like. This occurs in many forms not just in wrestling.

I do understand it is the Iranian policy makers and government officials. I'm sure the wrestlers would be willing to wrestle whoever is in front of them. To me this is a lot like a country boycotting the Olympics. It is just a pissing match between the heads of state with the only real losers being the athletes. My question is why does the government even allow their wrestlers to attend a competition where there is a chance that they'll wrestle Israelis if they are going to make their wrestlers forfeit?

I guess my first post wasn't worded correctly. I'm not taking anything away from the Iranian wrestlers (you and others have made it clear that this is out of the hands of the wrestlers and their coaches), just those that make the decisions about not wrestling the Israelis (I'm not completely sure who that is).

[AnklePicker2]

I don't understand why it is such a big issue if an Iranian wrestler does not compete against an Israeli. The Israeli automatically wins. How can they be upset with this?

I also don't understand how a country who's athletes almost always get eliminated in the first round have such a big say with Fila when the other country is a wrestling powerhouse. How does Israel have such a big say and Iran has none at all?

This sport is an Iranian sport, Iran is the home of this sport, most of the athletes who win have some sort of Iranian background but this country has no say and instead a country like Switzerland (which is nothing in wrestling) has the power. This all needs to change and th wrestling governing body should be moved to Iran.



This is just another case of the very frequent anti-iranian sentiment shown throughout the world.

Huh???

How is this in any way 'supporting' the Israelis? Like you said, any world-level Iranian would easily beat an Israeli, so making them wrestle is actually a detriment to the Israelis. I somehow doubt Israel is pushing this policy.

Further, wrestling pedigree and success have no relevance in the face of political hate and blatant disregard for another nation. Who cares how good Iran is if they are furthering a program of belligerence.

You assume Israel is behind this new amendment, but there is no proof to back this up right now. Your comments are just another case of the 'frequent anti-Israeli sentiment shown throughout certain parts of the world.'

Oh, and if FILA were to move to Iran, I would cringe at the repercussions. We would quickly see blatant cash transactions on the mat instead of lockerooms, singlet grabbing would become a 2 point move, wrestlers would be allowed to argue calls themselves on the mat for as long as it takes to convert the call.

[JudoWrestler]

I do understand it is the Iranian policy makers and government officials. I'm sure the wrestlers would be willing to wrestle whoever is in front of them. To me this is a lot like a country boycotting the Olympics. It is just a pissing match between the heads of state with the only real losers being the athletes. My question is why does the government even allow their wrestlers to attend a competition where there is a chance that they'll wrestle Israelis if they are going to make their wrestlers forfeit?

I guess my first post wasn't worded correctly. I'm not taking anything away from the Iranian wrestlers (you and others have made it clear that this is out of the hands of the wrestlers and their coaches), just those that make the decisions about not wrestling the Israelis (I'm not completely sure who that is).

I think it is quite obvious. When an Iranian athlete does not compete with an Israeli it sends a clear message that Iran opposes the state of Israel, this wins the Iranian regime support from those in the world who are also opposed to Israel and Israeli policies. If they were to completely forfeit the event, they would arouse domestic dislike to the policy and the protest against Israel would be less clear.

[AnklePicker2]

Of course it's about politics.

This whole controversy stems from Iran's racist/prejudiced/hate policy towards Israel. If this ignorant policy didn't exist, there would be no issue but somehow you are working Iran into the victim here, which is insane.

And it's funny that you argue that it's not fair that it is acceptable to attack and punish Iranians, but somehow you make it sound like hatred towards Israel is okay and should be permitted.