15 Sep
Culture, Latest

Inappropriate Politics at Beijing Games Continues

This weekend, the Iranian men's wheelchair basketball team competing at the Paralympic Games in Beijing quit the tournament. The reason given was "dissatisfaction" with their "schedule," although there is speculation that they quit because of the possibility they would play the Israeli team in the next round. According to theTehran Times: The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) and the International Paralympics Committee announced that Iran has pulled out of competition "due to their dissatisfaction with the draw proposed for the cross-over round and subsequent schedule". The draw placed Iran and Israel on the same side of the bracket, so that if they both won their quarterfinal matches (against the USA and Canada, respectively) they would play each other in the semifinals. We wrote about two similar incidents during the Olympic Games in August, when Iranian and Syrian swimmers pulled...

Continue reading

11 Aug
Latest

Drama in the Aquatic Cube at Beijing

Iranian swimmer Mohammad Alirezaei withdrew from the 100-meter breaststroke prelims on Saturday, raising suspicion that he did so because an Israeli swimmer, Tom Beeri, was placed in the same heat. If Alrezaei did indeed pull out of the race for political reasons, Iran would face potential sanctions according to International Olympic Committee guidelines. But the IOC has accepted Alirezaei's explanation that he was experiencing stomach pains before his race and say that no violation has occurred. An Iranian athlete withdrew from the judo tournament in Athens in 2004 to great praise because an Israeli athlete was competing. At that time, says CNN: The Iranian president was quoted by the state news agency as saying the athlete's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories" and declared that the nation considers him to be "the...

Continue reading