Sports

The Israeli baseball squad comprises mostly American Jews who already play in leagues in the United States. Ticket to Summer Games granted following hard-won victory in Italy on Sunday.

Iranian judo federation president Arash Miresmaeili condemns International Judo Federation over suspension, calling the move "hasty and unfair." Ban, which comes one month after world champion Saeid Mollaei walked off Iranian team in protest of boycott policy, will not apply to next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Saeid Mollaei left the Iranian judo team last month, saying he had been ordered to avoid competing against an Israeli. "I decided to live as a free man for myself, and prove to the world that I am a brave man." says Mollaei, from an undisclosed location in Germany.

Toronto NBA team says it is the first to offer athletic hijab for Muslim women. Dismissing criticism of hijabs as symbols of oppression, National Council of Canadian Muslims says, "One of the beautiful things about sports is that everyone can play."

Advocacy group StandWithUs attacks soccer governing body for excluding Israel from list of countries whose citizens can get visa to Qatar, apparently in violation of its own ethics code. "If Qatar is allowed to ban fans on the basis of national origin, this would be a clear violation of FIFA’s guidelines,” group says.

Exclusive: Saeid Mollaei, who was forced to lose match to avoid playing against Israeli in World Judo Championships, invited to attend the Tel Aviv Grand Prix 2019 by local judo authorities. Mollaei has asked for asylum in Germany following rift with Iranian regime.

"I want to compete wherever I can. I live in a country whose law does not permit me to," says Saeid Mollaei, who was forced to withdraw from a scheduled match against Israeli judoka Sagi Muki.

"I'm not surprised, because training has been going well," says new European record-holder Lonah Chemtai-Salpeter, adding that the Tilburg Ten Miles race was part of her training program for the Marathon World Championships.

Sagi Muki wins top prize in the Judo World Championships in Tokyo Wednesday, making history for the Jewish state.

Iranian judokas will boycott the World Judo Championships in Tokyo next week, despite a public promise issued by Iran's Olympic committee in May that its athletes would cease boycotting such competitions for political reasons.