Iraqi fencers withdraw from tournament to avoid Israeli competitors. Will @FIE_fencing do the right thing?

From BNN:

The Iraqi Fencing & Modern Pentathlon Federation recently decided to withdraw its team from the FIE Fencing World Championships in Milan due to a potential confrontation with Israeli players. 

This is not the first time the Iraqi team has made such a decision. The team also withdrew from individual races in a previous World Fencing Championship held in Istanbul for the same reason.

Azhar Ali, the director of the Federation’s media, stated that the team’s withdrawal only applies to confrontations with Israel, and that the Iraqi players would continue to participate in other competitions. Ali also emphasized that the Iraqi Federation would not face any penalties due to the withdrawal, as it is in compliance with international regulations.

That last sentence does not seem to be true.

The official FIE regulations state:

t.113  Refusing to fence an opponent  

1 No fencer (individual or team) from an FIE member national federation may take part in an official competition if he refuses to fence against any other fencer whatsoever (individual or team) correctly entered in the event. Should this rule be broken, the penalties specified for offences of the 4th group will be applied (cf. t.158-162, t.169, t.170). 

Offenses of the 4th group means a black card. 

2 The FIE shall consider whether there are grounds, and to what extent, for taking sanctions against the national federation to which the disqualified competitor belongs (cf. FIE Statutes 1.2.4 and Rules Article t.170).

Any black card awarded at a competition of the FIE or at a competition organized by any Confederation which has subscribed to the FIE disciplinary code shall be reported within 10 days to the President of the FIE, for him to assess whether the severity of the offence committed warrants the sending of the report made by the FIE supervisor or by the Directoire Technique to the president of the Legal Commission, requesting him to establish a Disciplinary Tribunal to determine if penalties in addition to those imposed at the competition should be imposed. 

Given that the Iraqi team did the same thing in Istanbul a couple of months ago, if the FIE has any concern for the sport, it should expel any team that has clearly stated that they refuse to participate in these competitions against legal competitors. 

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Russian equestrians to bypass sports sanctions for 2024 Olympics - by competing as Palestinians

The Palestinian Authority is helping Russia bypass sanctions on their competing in sports.

It has given Palestinian citizenship to several of the top Russian equestrian team members, so they will have a chance to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics as Palestinians. 

Eurodressage describes more:

Russian Olympic Grand Prix team rider Aleksandra Maksakova has declared for Palestine. 

The 25-year old Dutch based Aleksandra Dmitriyevna Maksakova has been competing internationally for her native country Russia since 2017. 

"Due to current political situation and the decision by international sport federations – including the FEI – to ban Russian athletes from international competitions, I was no longer allowed to take part in international dressage events due to my Russian nationality, even though I am a permanent resident in Lithuania," Aleksandra told Eurodressage. "Under those difficult circumstances, I had the great chance and honour to be authorised to compete for Palestine, thanks to the support of Palestinian sporting bodies, and in compliance with the FEI regulations."

Both (her husband) Egor and Aleksandra have now been declared for Palestine and are eligible again to compete at international horse shows, putting them back in the running for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 

"I am looking forward to resuming international dressage competitions under the Palestinian flag," Aleksandra added. 

Maksokova is the third Grand Prix rider to have declared for Palestine. The other two are Russian born Diana al Shaer (since 2018) and the German born Christian Brühe/Zimmermann (since 2011). 

Palestinian Arabs have allied with the worst human rights abusers in the world from the 1930s to today.

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Why do sports federations still tolerate nations who refuse to compete with Israelis?

Lebanese and other Arab media this week are celebrating the decision by a junior chess player to refuse to compete against an Israeli in a tournament in Abu Dhabi.

The Lebanese chess champion, Nadia Fawaz, withdrew from the 4th round of the 28th Abu Dhabi International Chess Festival to avoid facing the Israeli player, Elia Grozman.

Her refusal to play against Grozman came as a statement of refusal to recognize the Israeli state, a stance always taken by Lebanese players and athletes in international competitions.

Some articles list other recent examples of Arab refusal to compete against Israelis in recent international tournaments:

Charbel Abou Daher recently withdrew from the 2022 Youth MMA World Championships in Abu Dhabi, even though some believed he could have won, to avoid playing an Israeli opponent. The Lebanese MMA Federation shared on Instagram an explanation that his decision was made for “patriotic reasons.

Aquilina Al Chayeb is a judo athlete who, during the Athens Junior European Cup 2022, allegedly lost on purpose to avoid facing an Israeli in the next round. The Lebanese Judo Federation allegedly asked their player to lose her current tie to avoid competing with an Israeli in the next round, as to do so would have been considered recognition of Israel. Al Chayeb did not have the option to simply withdraw lest the International Judo Federation (IJF) penalize her and thwart her career, so she went on to deliberately lose.

And:

Earlier this month, Iraqi tennis stars Nasr Mahdi and Mohammad al-Mahdi withdrew from the 2022 Bucharest Wheelchair Open in Romania to avoid playing against their Israeli rivals.

Majid al-Ugaili, president of the Iraqi Tennis Federation, announced in a statement on Aug. 11 that the draw put them on a mathematical path to pairing them with a pair of Israelis. The Iraqi seed team then decided to withdraw from the competition.

As early as July 31, the Palestinian Information Center reported that Jordanian taekwondo player Maysir al-Dahamsheh avoided a confrontation with his Israeli opponent at the 2022 World Taekwondo Cadet and Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Plus:

A Jordanian national table tennis player did the same last summer at the World Para Table Tennis Championships in Slovenia by withdrawing from the competition to avoid playing against an Israeli opponent.

[In July], Algerian footballer Ahmed Touba refused to accompany his team, İstanbul Basaksehir to a match against Israel's Maccabi Netanya in the second leg of the preliminary round of the Europa Conference League matches. Touba also refused to participate in the first leg of the match in Istanbul on July 21.

A Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool pulled out of his match against Tohar Butbul in the 73-kilogram men's division in the Tokyo Olympics last year.

Isn't it time that sports federations get their acts together and ban any country from competition that acts like this? As it is, the athletes are celebrated in their home countries for their "bravery" and they gain more than they lose. It is up to sports federations to ensure that the pain for boycotting matches against Israel (or any country) is greater than the accolades.

And Israel can do its own part. Since much of the Arab psyche is driven by "honor," Israel should put out the message that the Arabs who withdraw from competition are really frightened of losing to an Israeli. Over time, this can turn the refusal from looking honorable to looking cowardly - and athletes would not want to be viewed that way.

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Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism  today at Amazon! Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.  Read all about it here!

 

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