Iranian Judoka Saeid Mollaei (Screenshot via Times of Israel)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport decided Monday that the International Judo Federation’s 2019 blanket ban on Iranian judo athletes went too far, while admitting that the country had committed “severe violations” of the federation’s rules, The New York Times reported.
The complete suspension had “no legal basis” under the sport’s rules, the court added.
Iran will now likely be able to send its judokas to compete in Tokyo, given that the time before the games begin in July is not long enough to mount a successful appeal of the ruling.
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The Media Line Staff 03/03/2021
Iran’s suspension from international judo events for ordering one of its judokas to withdraw from a match rather than face an Israeli opponent has been annulled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The court ruled that the International Judo Federation’s (IJF) indefinite suspension ordered “until the Iran Judo Federation gives strong guarantees and proves that they will respect the IJF Statutes and accept that their athletes fight against Israeli athletes” had “no legal basis in the IJF regulations.” The court sent the matter back to the IJF Disciplinary Commission for “its eventual further decisions.”
Monday, 1 March 2021
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) lifted an indefinite suspension imposed on the Iran Judo Federation, with the case referred back to the International Judo Federation (IJF) to determine further action.
The IJF imposed a ban on the Iran Judo Federation after the Government ordered judoka Saeid Mollaei to withdraw to avoid facing an opponent from Israel at the 2019 World Championships.
The CAS heard the Iran Judo Federation’s appeal in September.
The CAS panel has determined that the Iran Judo Federation committed severe violations of the IJF rules and that sanctions compliant with the IJF regulations should be imposed on it .