In four more days, on Friday, July 30, Israeli judoka Raz Hershko is slated to square off against Tahani Alqahtani of Saudi Arabia in the 78-kilogram category for women.
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As of Monday morning, it still wasn't clear whether the Saudi judoka will show up to compete or whether she and her coaches will boycott the match.
Algerian judo athlete Fethi Nourine has already been sent home from the Tokyo Olympics after withdrawing from the competition to avoid potentially facing Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul.
The International Judo Federation said Nourine's position was "in total opposition to the philosophy of the International Judo Federation. The IJF has a strict non-discrimination policy, promoting solidarity as a key principle, reinforced by the values of judo."
Regardless, as far as Alqahtani of Saudi Arabia is concerned, there are varying views about her upcoming fight with her Israeli opponent and, as stated, she has yet to decide whether to compete or not.
On social media, meanwhile, several commenters held the view that Alqahtani should fight.
"Alqahtani represents Saudi Arabia in a sporting competition, it has nothing to do with politics," one commenter said.
"She can't back down," another said, "especially not against the Israeli."
Someone else wrote: "May God grant you great success, let's go, beat the devil."
One female commenter said, "As an Arab, I hope our hero Alqahtani doesn't withdraw. Whether she wins or not. It's enough for us that she's already achieved something special – changing the paradigm in the Arab world."
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