LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Iran’s suspension from international judo events for refusing to let its athletes fight Israeli opponents was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
The case was prompted by former world champion Saeid Mollaei leaving the Iranian team in 2019, claiming he was ordered to lose matches and withdraw from competitions to avoid facing Israelis.
CAS said its judges hearing the Iranian judo federation’s appeal decided the International Judo Federation overstepped its own authority with such a severe ban, which was imposed in October 2019. The case was sent back to an IJF disciplinary panel for review.