Instead of letting areas like sport create a bridge to peace, an Algerian judo contestant at the Paris 2024 Olympics says he would rather withdraw from the Olympics rather than compete against an Israeli.
Messaoud Dris says he will withdraw from his first match, as he was selected to compete against Israeli judoka Tohar Butbul at the 2024 Paris Olympics in Paris, according to the French news outlet Ouest France reports.
While neighboring Morocco has a peace agreement with Israel, the Algerian athlete says he will forfeit the match as his country does not recognize the State of Israel.
Doing so he could be banned from future competitions by the International Olympic Committee and the World Judo Federation, says Ouest France.
Butbu is ranked ninth in the world in the Under 73kg division and part of the Israeli team that won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Dris has not won a world championship but in 2024 was the number 1 for the African Senior Championships Individuals and in 2023 won first place in the Arab Games. It may be that this is the end of his career anyway and without a chance of winning. This political forfeit could boost his career in the Muslim country that praises and honors people who make political statements against the Jewish country.
Three years ago the Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine refused to face an Israeli opponent (there was no war at the time) and was suspended. We are noticing a pattern with Algeria.
In October 2017, when an Israeli Tal Flicker won gold in an international judo championship in the UAE officials refused to fly the Israeli flag and play the Israeli national anthete. The UAE also banned Israeli athletes from wearing their country’s symbols on uniforms. The list goes on – see Wikipedia which offers a special page on this issue. Do you think it’s the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do? Should areas of life like Sport and Art rise above conflict and personal politics?
Related: Palestinians swing dance with Israelis for peace
In Iran, you can get into political hot water – and into jail or worse – for other reasons. Remember when the Iranian speedskater was threatened with violence when she didn’t wear her head covering in competitions? Iran’s sports ministry issued a short statement emphasizing that athletes require “maintaining Islamic values in sports competitions” and added that Mardani, pictured below, had not competed in clothing approved by the state.
Are values in sport a universal idea? Are different countries with different religious values permitted to inject their values on a competition that started in Greece 3000 years ago and called the Olympiad? Consider that British rider Charlotte Dujardin was banned from the Olympics, and her career over, after video of her whipping horse “like an elephant in the circus”. Where does the ethics and morality committee stand on countries who send participants that refuse to player others or who inflict Draconian ethics on women? Should there be a collective country ban on Iran, Algeria and England for a certain period of time or should it just be individuals who get disqualified?
Does an individual reflect the country or the country reflect the individual?
