A Lebanese mixed martial arts fighter competing in the youth division of MMA World Championships in Bulgaria announced Saturday that he was pulling out of the event so as not to compete against an Israeli opponent, Lebanon's Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV reported.
The Youth MMA World Championships for fighters ages 12 to 18 was held over the weekend in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.
According to the competition's organizers, seven if the competitors were Israeli and eight were from Lebanon, including Abdullah Miniato, who was the only one to be faced with an Israeli counterpart after the fights' draw.
Al-Manar said that Miniato and his coach Muhammad al-Gharbi said they were withdrawing from the tournament saying that the young athlete "refuses to recognize Israel or practice any form of normalization" of ties with the Jewish state "and therefore pulled out of the competition immediately upon learning who he was slated to face."
Over the years, many Arab or Muslim athletes have refused to face Israelis in sporting events.
Just last week, two judokas – Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool and Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine – forfeited their matches at the Tokyo Olympics so as not to face Israel's Tohar Butbul.
This was not the case for Saudi judoka Tahani Alqahtani, who faced off against Israel's Raz Hershko in the Olympics on Friday, drawing both praise and condemnations for her decision. Alqahtani's decision to meet her Israeli opponent on the mat was backed by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, which announced she would be facing the Israeli judoka, despite the fact Riyadh and Jerusalem have no official diplomatic ties.
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