Middle East Monitor reports that Jordanian kickboxer Mohammed Eid has refused to compete against Israeli contestant at the 4th International Turkish Open Kickboxing European Cup held in Turkey.
“After continuous training for several months with the Jordanian team and after arriving in Antalya to participate in the European Cup. My opponent was a player from the Zionist entity and therefore I decided not to participate” Eid wrote on Facebook. "It was easier for me to step aside from the dream of winning the championship than to compete against the Israeli, even though I was fully prepared to try for the gold medal."Eid had the misfortune of drawing an Israeli in the very first round.
Eid's opponent, as well as practically the entire Israeli kickboxing team, is Arab, based on the names of the Israeli competitors from the list on the right (click to expand.) That didn't stop many of his fans to comment about how it is good he didn't normalize relations with "Jews."
Eid says he looks forward to other competitions, which makes it sounds like the kickboxing association did not penalize him for his stunt.