Iran has been suspended from international judo competitions over it boycotts of bouts with Israeli athletes.
Less than a month after world champion Saeid Mollaei walked off the Iranian team in protest of the boycott policy, the International Judo Federation on Wednesday announced that Iran had been suspended ahead of a full hearing.
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Iran's judo federation is accused of discriminating against Israeli athletes and breaking rules over manipulating competition results.
"The IJF Executive Committee considered that such conduct is intolerable," the federation said.
Mollaei has said he was repeatedly ordered by Iranian officials to lose matches or withdraw from competitions, including last month's World Judo Championships, so as not to face Israelis. He is currently in hiding in Germany.
The president of Iran's judo federation, Arash Miresmaeili, condemned the IJF for suspending it and called it "hasty and unfair," the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Wednesday.
Miresmaeili said the IJF sent an email on Sept. 13 and asked Iran to send a report to defend itself. "Unfortunately, once we saw the World Federation's email today, it is completely apart from the routine," he said.
Iran does not recognize Israel, and Iranian sports teams have for several decades had a policy of not competing against Israelis.
IJF spokesman Vlad Marinescu said any ban would not apply to next year's Tokyo Olympics. That's because the Iranian Olympic Committee, not the Iranian judo federation, formally enters the Olympic team.
Meanwhile, the IJF is exploring ways to allow Mollaei to compete on the International Olympic Committee's refugee team.
The IOC has signaled a harder line on boycotts in recent years.
In June, IOC President Thomas Bach criticized governments who "clearly abuse sport for their political purposes," noting a case in May of a Tunisian court blocking four Israelis from competing at the taekwondo junior world championships.
