Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei, who fled his country after speaking out against the regime more than a year ago, is due to land in Israel on Sunday to participate in the Tel Aviv Grand Slam scheduled for Feb. 18-20 at Shlomo Hall, Kan 11 News reported Sunday.
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"Saeid Mollaei is due to land … in Israel tonight," a senior official from the competition's organizing committee told Kan, adding that the tournament was a "festival of sports beyond borders."
Competing in the under 81 kg (178.5 lb) category, Mollaei holds gold and bronze world medals.
In November 2019, Germany granted Mollaei refugee status after Iranian officials forced him to be eliminated from the World Judo Championship in Tokyo before he could face off against Israeli judoka Sagi Muki, who went on to win the gold medal in Tokyo.
Mollaei sought to apply for asylum in Germany instead of putting himself at risk by returning home.
"I'm happy, it's a huge message for the world," said Muki.
"It could even bring Iran closer to the State of Israel. It just shows how sport can unite and break down barriers," Muki added.
In response to Iran's boycott of Israeli athletes, the IJF has banned Iran from international competitions indefinitely, "until the Iran Judo Federation gives strong guarantees and prove that they will respect the IJF Statutes and accept that their athletes fight against Israeli athletes."
his article was first published by i24NEWS.
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