July 24, (THEWILL) – In a controversial move, Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine and his coach Amar Benikhlef have decided to withdraw from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo to avoid the possibility of meeting an Israeli opponent during the competition.
The men’s Under-73 kilograms class judo athlete, was drawn to face Tohar Butbul of Israel in the second round if he progressed through an opening contest against Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalarasool in Monday’s round of bouts.
However, Nourine told the Algerian television in pre-match broadcast that he would not get his “hands dirty” and that his decision to pull out was “final” rather than engage the Israeli athlete. There was some regret evidenced in his decision as he added: “We worked a lot to reach the Olympics, and the news came as a shock, a thunder.”
Benikhlef, the athlete’s coach, was on the same page as the judoka because he said: “We were unlucky with the draw. We got an Israeli opponent and that’s why we had to retire. We made the right decision.”
THEWILL recalls that the two countries do not have any official diplomatic relations at all, with Algeria being part of the Arab League boycott of Israel. Officially, Algeria does not recognise the State of Israel and she refuses entry to any person holding an Israeli passport or any other passport which has a visa from Israel.
The 30-year-old Benikhlef himself has pulled out when having to face Israeli opponents before. He last did so at the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo.
In a swift reaction to their action, the International Judo Federation (IJF) said that it would investigate the circumstances surrounding this withdrawal. In the meantime, it announced that both Nourine and Benikhlef had been suspended forthwith.
An official statement from the Federation stated: “The immediate response of the IJF Executive Committee was to form an investigative commission which confirmed all the facts, leading to a temporary suspension of the athlete and the coach and assigning the case to the Disciplinary Commission of the IJF for further investigation, judgement and final sanctioning beyond the Olympic Games.
“The IJF launched the investigation and notified the Algerian Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee.
“Responding to the information, the Algerian Olympic Committee withdrew both the athlete and coach accreditation and plans to send them home, applying sanctions accordingly.
“These actions were taken based on the official recorded declarations of both Fethi Nourine and Amar Benikhlef, that were published in the media and that are 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.”
Before this incident, there was another case regarding Israel because in April this year, the IJF banned Iran for a period of four years after the country instructed Saeid Mollaei to avoid facing an opponent from Israel at the 2019 World Championships.
Coincidentally, the same athlete, Mollaei has since defected to Mongolia. At Tokyo this year, he could face the Israeli, Sagi Muki, in the semi-finals of the men’s Under-81kg.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
