Iran’s blanket suspension from world judo events for ordering one of its athletes to pull out of an event to avoid competing against an Israeli was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
The court did not disagree that Iran had committed “severe violations” of International Judo Federation rules in the case, and it said the country deserved sanctions. But it decided the punishment that was imposed — banishment from all competitions until Iranian officials give “strong guarantees and proves that they will respect the I.J.F. statutes and accept that their athletes fight against Israeli athletes” — went too far.