Arash Miresmaeili ( fa, آرش میراسماعیلی , born March 3, 1981 in
Khorramabad
Khorramabad ( fa, خرمآباد, Khorramâbâd ), alternatively romanized as Khorramābād, Khoramabad, Khurramabad, Khorram Abad, or Khur Ramābād, is a city and the capital of Lorestan Province, Iran. At the time of the 2016 census, its po ...
) is an Iranian
judo
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
ka. He now serves as the President of the Iranian Judo Federation.
World Judo Championships
He won the gold medal in two
World Judo Championships
The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Judo at the Summer Olympics, Olympic judo competition. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place ...
, the first one in 2001 in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and the second in 2003 in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
,
Japan. He also won
bronze medal in the
2005 World Judo Championships
The 2005 World Judo Championships were the 24th edition of the Judo World Championships, and were held in Cairo, Egypt from September 8 to September 12, 2005. Brazilian João Derly was voted as best performance of the championship. On the last d ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
and
2007 World Judo Championships in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
Athens Olympic Games; controversy
Arash Miresmaili was the favourite for the
gold medal in the
2004 Summer Olympics, where he was the flag bearer for Iran at the opening ceremonies.
Slated to fight
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i judoka competitor
Ehud Vaks in the first round, Miresmaili was disqualified from competing because he was above the permissible weight limit for his class. He was more than two kilos - four pounds - over the 66-kilogram weight limit. It was claimed that Miresmaili deliberately set out to be disqualified, rather than compete against an Israeli, which was understood from Miresmaili's own comments: "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathise with the suffering of the
people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all."
Judo officials questioned how such an experienced two-time world champion competitor could have made such a basic error.
There was precedent for Miresmaeili's actions, in the sport of judo. At the 2001 World Judo Championships, Iranian Mahed Malekmohammdi refused to face Israeli judoka
Yoel Razvozov
Yoel Razvozov (; born 5 July 1980) is an Israeli judoka and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid in several spells, and as the Minister of Tourism from 2021 to 2022.
Early life
Born Konstantin Anatolyevich Razvozov (ru ...
.
Similarly, Iranian judoka Masoud Haji Akhoundzade pulled out of a bout against Israeli lightweight Zvi Shafran.
An Iran National Olympic Committee spokesman said it was Iran's "general policy" to avoid competing against Israeli athletes, and that Miresmaeili had just followed Iran's protocol. Comments from Iranian officials and politicians supported this understanding. The Iranian state news agency
IRNA
The Islamic Republic News Agency ( fa, خبرگزاری جمهوری اسلامی, ''Xebergâzari-ye Jimhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye''), or IRNA, is the official news agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Founded on 13 November 1934 as Pars News Agency ...
quoted then Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami as saying that Miresmaeili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories," and that the nation considered him to be "the champion of the 2004 Olympic Games." Iranian Olympic team chairman Nassrollah Sajadi told the
Shargh
''Shargh'' ( fa, شرق, lit=East) is one of the most popular Reformist newspapers in Iran.
History and profile
''Shargh'' was founded in 2003. The daily is managed by Mehdi Rahmanian. Its chief editor was Mohammad Ghouchani in its first period ...
newspaper that the government should give the athlete $115,000 for his action, the amount the Iranian government awards
gold medal winning athletes. Then-mayor of
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
and former president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that though Miresmaeili "did not get a gold medal, he earned eternal honor by his refusal".
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel
Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel ( fa, غلامعلی حداد عادل, born 9 May 1945) is an Iranian philosopher, conservative and principlist politician and former chairman of the Parliament. He is currently member of the Expediency Discernment Counci ...
, the speaker of Iran's parliament, congratulated Miresmaeili, calling his refusal to compete a "brave decision," and saying that "Your disqualification because of supporting Palestine would promote your position in the heart of Muslims."
Vaks said "I don't think they (Iran) have the right not to acknowledge us. Israel is a democracy, and Iran isn't. But sport is linked to politics... Maybe the next Olympics will be better."
On August 18, 2004, the
International Judo Federation
The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...
(IJF), which had set up a commission to investigate whether Miresmaeili deliberately missed weight so he would not have to face Vaks, concluded he had no intention to avoid competing against an Israeli. After a hearing which included the president of Iran's judo federation, the commission concluded that Miresmaeili said he had no pre-planned intentions for not competing and that "he made no statement of any sort to any press," according to an IJF statement. The only issue that remained was that Miresmaeili was overweight on the weigh-in day, the IJF said, and as it has no rule for penalizing overweight athletes, it decided not to take any action against him.
On September 8, 2004, Iran's official press agency announced the government had given Miresmaili $125,000, the same amount awarded to Iran's two Athens gold medalists.
Denial of entry to election of Iran's Judo Federation
In the summer of 2009, prior to the controversial Iranian presidential elections, Miresmaeili chose to support the candidacy of
Mohsen Rezaee
Mohsen Rezaee ( fa, محسن رضایی, born Sabzevar Rezaee Mirgha'ed ( fa, سبزوار رضایی میرقائد) on 1 September 1954) is an Iranian conservative politician affiliated with the Resistance Front of Islamic Iran and senior mili ...
, one of
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rivals.
Rezaei appointed Miresmaeili as his campaign chief for Sports Committee. After being appointed, during a press conference, Miresmaeili stated that if Rezaee were elected as president, there would be no more place for Iranian sports officials who have been appointed for political purposes, as opposed to their knowledge and capabilities. His backing of Rezaee and his remarks did not sit well with the conservative backers of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the Iranian Sports Federation and elsewhere. They also drew immediate and harsh condemnation from the former Chief of Iran's Sports Federation, Mohammed Aliabadi.
Since then, the effort to punish and sideline Miresmaeili went as far as denying him entry to an election event of Iran's Judo Federation held on Jan 2, 2009. Miresmaeili tried very hard to gain entry into the event, and was denied entry by the security guards. This angered Miresmaeili to the point where he called a press conference that day, during which he stated that he was very sorry for sports in Iran and that he was officially done with the Iranian Judo, but that they could not kill his love for Judo.
As the President of the Iranian Judo Federation
In 2019, Miresmaili was elected as the President of the Iranian Judo Federation for a four-year term by receiving 32 votes out of 43 votes.
See also
*
Boycotts of Israel in individual sports
References
External links
*
Mystery over Iran judo Web Site
Mystery over Iran judo 'protest'on BBC NEWS.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miresmaili, Arash
1981 births
Living people
Iranian male judoka
Judoka at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Olympic judoka of Iran
People from Khorramabad
Asian Games silver medalists for Iran
Asian Games bronze medalists for Iran
Asian Games medalists in judo
Judoka at the 1998 Asian Games
Judoka at the 2002 Asian Games
Judoka at the 2006 Asian Games
Judoka at the 2010 Asian Games
Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch alumni
World judo champions
Iranian sportsperson-politicians
Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games
Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games