It's this early into the Olympic Games, and blatant anti-Israeli discrimination is already on display. According to the Times of Israel, Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine, pulled out of the Games on Thursday rather than possibly face Israeli opponent, Tohar Butbul.
If Nourine were to advance out of the first round, he would have faced Butbul in the second round of the under-73k men's judo competition.
It appears as if Nourine and Butbul have a history of the potential of facing each other, with Nourine pulling out of the 2019 Judo World championships.
Nourine and his coach, Amar Benikhlef, are not hiding their anti-Israeli sentiment. "We were not lucky with the draw. We got an Israeli opponent and that’s why we had to retire. We made the right decision," Yakif is quoted as saying.
The report also details a larger pattern, not merely to do with Nourine or Algeria, or these Tokyo Games:
It’s not the first time Israeli judokas have faced discrimination in the sport.
At the 2016 games, Egyptian judoka Islam El Shahaby quit the sport, just hours after refusing to shake the hand of his victorious Israeli rival Or Sasson in the first round of the men’s over-100kg competition at the Rio Olympics.
The 32-year-old Egyptian, a world championship medalist in 2010, had faced pressure on social media and from hardline Islamist groups in his homeland to withdraw from the match and faced intense criticism afterward for losing to an Israeli.
In April, International Judo Federation issued a four-year ban against the Iranian Judo Federation over Tehran’s demands that its athletes refuse to face Israeli opponents.
The ban was backdated to begin in September 2019, when judoka Saeid Mollaei left the Iranian team during the World Championship in Tokyo, revealing he was ordered to lose matches and withdraw from competitions to avoid facing Israelis.
However, in a turn of events, Mollaei, who is technically a refugee, was able to switch from representing Iran to representing Mongolia. He competed in the Judo Grand Slam competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he won the silver medal. He's quoted as saying Israel was "very kind," which "is something I will never forget."
Butbul will instead face Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalarasool.
A subsequent report from the Times of Israel notes Nourine and Benikhlef have been suspended by the International Judo Federation’s (IJF) executive committee. Their Olympic accreditation was also withdrawn on Saturday, and they will be sent home.