Iranian wrestler throws bout to avoid match against an Israeli

In the fourth minute of the encounter, Karimi was beating his opponent, the Russian wrestler Alikhan Zhabrailov, when coaches instructed him to throw the bout. At the moment of the instruction, the Iranian was leading 3-2. The fight ended 3-14 for the Zhabrailov.

The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the Jewish Republic, and forbids its sportsmen from competing against Israelis.

“You must lose, Alireza!”

In a clip of the fight, a man’s voice, suspected to be Karimi’s trainer, can be heard saying “you must lose, Alireza!”.

According to the BBC, after giving the order to the wrestler, the trainer stopped the match to speak privately with Karimi, who later returned to lose abruptly.

On Tuesday, the wrestler spoke to local press, saying that his coach told him to throw the match to avoid facing an Israeli.

Iran’s government federation praises Karimi

Karimi received the backing of the Iran’s authorities, who called his actions “noble” and “heroic”.

“Your noble and heroic action in the world competition in Poland, abandoning the medal and the podium in support of the highest human values, is a source of pride and praise,” reads an official statement on the website of the youth and sports ministry.

Also, Iran’s Wrestling Federation gave its own praiseful statement.

'It is the second time that you have risen up against the oppression of the Palestinian people by abandoning your rights in an act of absolute submission,' the federation wrote.

#youmustlose

After the event, the hashtag #youmustlose became trending on Twitter.

Several users were hostile against Iran’s authorities, while others celebrated the wrestler’s actions.

'I feel that Alireza Karimi's trainer intentionally shouted 'Alireza lose', 'you need to lose', 'you must lose'. This was a sign for us to see the dirty people behind the curtain of his defeat. We needed to see how the dirty politics of a group of dirty people caused your efforts to be blown away with the wind,' reads a comment by Tweeter user @persianhuman.

“We will not step onto the mat against Israel until the army of Islam triumphantly steps onto the Holy Land of Palestine,” reads a Tweet by user Javad Jalali.

In August, two Iranian footballers, Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi, part of the roster of the Greek club Panionios, were suspended from the national team for playing a match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli side.

After posting an apology on Instagram, Ehsan was allowed to continue to play for the national side. While on the other hand, Masoud was dishonorably discharged.