A Jordanian athlete withdrew from a taekwondo championship in Bulgaria to avoid facing an opponent from Israel, the Middle East Monitor reported Tuesday.
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Maysir Al-Dahamsheh, a member of the Jordanian women's junior taekwondo team, made the move on Sunday after reaching the finals of the World Taekwondo Cadet Championships, which were held in late July.
Her withdrawal comes two months after Jordanian national fencing player Eyas Al-Zamer withdrew from the World Juniors Fencing Championship in the United Arab Emirates, where he was scheduled to play against an Israeli athlete.
Jordanian national taekwondo player Maysir Al-Dahamsheh has withdrawn from the world championship held in Bulgaria to avoid facing an Israeli player. pic.twitter.com/APWSW9dEHs
— AlQastal News (@QastalNewsEn) July 31, 2022
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.
The practice of Arab and Muslim athletes pulling out of matches with Israeli counterparts is not uncommon among those representing countries that do not maintain diplomatic ties with Israel.
Last week, 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.
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Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine did the same and the International Judo Federation stripped him and his coach Amar Benikhlef of their Olympic accreditation, saying the move was "in total opposition to the philosophy of the International Judo Federation."
Iran is perhaps most famous for banning athletes from competing against Israelis, as Tehran does not recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. But the practice has come with a cost: In mid-2021 the International Judo Federation slapped Iran with a four-year suspension citing "repeated and severe breaches" of the organization's statutes and the values of Olympism. The move was a conclusion of IJF proceedings against the Islamic republic in the wake of its orders to judoka Saeid Mollaei to avoid facing an opponent from Israel at the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo.
It was the second time the IJF has imposed sanctions on the Iran Judo Federation in the case.
JNS.org contributed to this report.
