Mostafa Rajaei (right) shakes hands with Israeli weightlifter Maksim Svirsky at competitions in Poland
Iranian weightlifter given a life sentence and banned from competing after being photographed shaking hands with an Israeli opponent.
After winning the silver medal at the World Masters Championships in Poland, Mostafa Rajai appeared on the podium next to the award-winning Israeli opponent. a bronze medal.
The couple were photographed shaking hands and talking to each other while wearing national flags, which was usually an uplifting moment of sportsmanship.
But the image quickly drew the ire of Iran's leading sports organization and the government of the Islamic Republic, which forbids its citizens from directly competing with the Israelis.
Iran's Weightlifting Federation, which imposed the ban, described Mr. Rajai's actions. as an “unforgivable” violation.
“The position of the federation is the same as that of the sacred establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the federation said in a statement.
red lines'
Rajai's lifetime ban was first reported by the Iranian state news agency Irna, which said the weightlifter had «crossed the Islamic Republic's red line».
The weightlifter also received a lifetime ban from using any Iranian sports facility, and the head of the Iranian team was fired due to the incident.
40-year-old Rajai probably knew that a handshake and a photo would piss off Iranian officials. In 2021, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, urged participants not to shake hands with Israeli citizens at award ceremonies.
The ban on competing with Israelis has led some Iranian athletes, especially wrestlers, to seek help from unusual methods to avoid trouble, such as fighting or feigning injury.
Others simply fled Iran to avoid being banned, such as chess prodigy Alireza Firouzja.< /p>
He left his homeland after being told that he would not be able to compete in the 2019 tournament due to fears that he would be opposed by an Israeli player.
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