Iran swimmer misses Olympic competition with Israeli
Washington, 10 August (IranVNC)—Olympic officials said today that Iran could face action if it deliberately pulled out of yesterday’s men’s 100 meter breaststroke heats because an Israeli swimmer was also racing.
By: IranVNC
Published: Sunday, August 10, 2008
14:45GMT—10:45AM/EST
OLYMPICS – IRAN – ISRAEL – SWIMMING
Washington, 10 August (IranVNC)—Olympic officials said today that Iran could face action if it deliberately pulled out of yesterday’s men’s 100 meter breaststroke heats because an Israeli swimmer was also racing.
Iranian swimmer Mohammad Alireza’i did not participate in yesterday’s heat, in which Israel’s Tom Beeri finished fourth. Alireza’i was to start in lane one, while Beeri started from almost the other end of the pool, in lane seven.
AFP quoted Giselle Davies, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee [IOC], as saying today: “Under the spirit of respect and fair play, if it is confirmed that he deliberately pulled out, then the IOC would take it seriously.”
Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency reports today that Alireza’i was admitted to a Beijing hospital yesterday as a result of a hernia. The report adds that he was released today and will return to Iran for surgery.
The secretary of Iran’s National Olympic Committee [INOC], Ali Kafashian, said on Friday that Alireaza’i would swim because there was no “face-to-face situation”.
“In my opinion there is no problem, since each swimmer will swim in a separate lane and will not face one another,” Fars News quotes Kafashian as saying.
During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Iran’s judo world champion Arash Miresmaeilli, a gold medal hopeful, refused to compete against Ehud Vaks of Israel in the first round in show of support for the Palestinian cause. He still received a five thousand dollar award INOC had promised to medal winners.
Israel considers Iran its single biggest threat because of its controversial nuclear program and calls by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be “wiped off the map.” Iran has never officially recognized the State of Israel.
But senior Iranian official Esfandiar Rahim Masha’i said today that Iran is a “friend” of the American and Israeli people, reiterating comments he made last month that sparked widespread commentary.
Masha’i, who is Iran’s Vice President for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, was quoted by Fars News as saying today: “We [Iran] are friends with all people of the world, even the people of America and Israel.”
He added that Iran is “struggling for the freedom of people who live in that land [Israel]” and that the Islamic Republic is against the “Israeli regime”.
Sources: Agence France-Presse, ISNA in Persian, Fars News Agency in Persian
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