Olympics Hit by Crisis Over Iran-Israel Contest

[insein]

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/145144|top|08-15-2004::11:26|reuters.html

Olympics Hit by Crisis Over Iran-Israel Contest


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Aug 15, 11:11 AM (ET)

By Douglas Hamilton
ATHENS (Reuters) - Iran's world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili refused to compete against an Israeli Sunday, triggering a fresh crisis at the Olympic Games where race, creed or color are barred from interfering in sport.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) failed to agree how to deal with the politically explosive issue at an emergency meeting and said it would hold further talks Monday.

The burning issue was whether any penalty would hit Miresmaeili alone or the entire Iranian team, as the intrusion of the Middle East's bitter politics threatened to fly in the face of the Olympic ideal.

"There has been no decision and we are considering this situation very carefully," said IJF spokesman Michel Brousse.

"This has not been brought to us as an issue and until it is, we would not have any comment," said a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which pledges to uphold the ideal of sport transcending national barriers.

The official reason at the Games for Miresmaeili's non-appearance was failure to make the weight but judo chiefs questioned how a seasoned athlete, who carried Iran's flag at Friday's opening ceremony, would have made such a basic error.

REAL REASON

But in Tehran, the Iranian National Olympic Committee said in a statement: "This is a general policy of our country to refrain from competing against athletes of the Zionist regime and Arash Miresmaeili has observed this policy."

Iran has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist since Islamic fundamentalists toppled the Shah in 1979.

Miresmaeili, who had been due to fight Israeli Ehud Vaks, was quoted by Iran's official news agency IRNA as saying he acted in solidarity with the Palestinians.

"Although I have trained for months and am in shape I refused to face my Israeli rival in sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people," said Miresmaeili, 66 kg world champion in 2001 and 2003. "I am not upset about the decision I have made."

In a fresh doping case, Slovak shot putter Milan Haborak tested positive for a banned substance and left the Olympics, the Slovak news agency SITA reported.

"I really am sorry because I was really looking forward to competing. I trained long and hard. But I do not know that I took something that is banned," SITA quoted Haborak as saying.

Team spokesman Anton Zerer refused to comment on the report.

The Games were rocked last Thursday when Greece's top two athletes, Olympic 200 meters champion Costas Kenteris and 100 meters silver medallist Katerina Thanou, missed a dope test.

They were dropped from the host nation's team Saturday pending an IOC disciplinary hearing Monday.

HOT AIR

On the second day of full competition at the Olympics, Athens was blasted by a hot, hair-dryer wind that threatened to spook the horses at the equestrian events and may have blown some arrows off course at the archery.

The rowing regatta had to be stopped, prompting some told-you-so comments from critics who said it was in the wrong place to begin with.

But the gusting winds could not stop Russia's Alexei Alipov winning gold in the men's trap shooting with a near-flawless performance on a range carved into a mountain top.

The 29-year-old from Moscow scored 149 out of a possible 150, including a perfect 25 in the final round.

Swimming again grabbed most attention as Australia's Ian Thorpe won round one of a duel with American Michael Phelps, qualifying fastest for the 200 meters freestyle.

Thorpe showed no signs of fatigue from his titanic struggle with Grant Hackett in Saturday's 400 freestyle final victory as he cruised through his heat in one minute 47.22 seconds.

OLYMPIC BIRTHPLACE

The archery contest returned the Olympics to their birthplace in Athens's Panathinaiko Stadium, 108 years after the first Games were held at the classical marble amphitheater.

Attendance at the first Summer Olympics since the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States three years ago has disappointed in the first two days, but organizers hope it will soon pick up.

Athens has spent 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion) on security, four times more than Sydney in 2000, and security personnel outnumber athletes seven to one.

So organizers were swift to play down a British newspaper's charge that security at the Games was a "terrorist's dream."

Sunday Mirror tabloid reporter Bob Graham said a job as a driver allowed him to wander round the main stadium close to world leaders during Friday's opening ceremony.

But the organizers said a background check had been conducted on Graham before he got the job and the "suspicious packages" he planted were not detected precisely because they were harmless.

 

[dmp]

you'd think he'd LOVE a chance to kick a jew's ass.

Weird.

 

[Big D]

Fuck Iranians, they suck.

 

[OCA]

Didn't want to get the smell of gifelte fish and those fucking greasy hair locks that hang down on the sides of their heads on him.

 

[nakedemperor]

Didn't want to get the smell of gifelte fish and those fucking greasy hair locks that hang down on the sides of their heads on him.

C'mon, be nice. No need to diss someone because of their religion's customs, OCA.

And I think that he wasn't competing against the Israeli because they dont' recognize Israel as a country. Which is weird. I'd also think he'd relish the opportunity to compete against his rival. Although he'd probably have his hand cut off if he did...

Which reminds me... "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." -Guess who...hehe...

oh oh and more recently, "Karyn is a West Texas girl, just like me." oh Dubya. you so cwazy.

 

[Moi]

Nakedemporer: keep on the thread issues. If you want to make a point about George Bush, it doesn't belong in a thread on the olympics.

 

[nakedemperor]

Sorry, I still haven't figured out how to have a tag line at the end of my post, so my amusing quotes have to go in the post itself...But I'll stay more on point. Mah bad!

 

[Annie]

Sorry, I still haven't figured out how to have a tag line at the end of my post, so my amusing quotes have to go in the post itself...But I'll stay more on point. Mah bad!

13- Dual Accounts -Users are only allowed to have one posting handle. Anyone found posting under dual identities will have both accounts terminated.


DoubleT8600
RossTrudeauNYC

bye bye

 

[Hobbit]

13- Dual Accounts -Users are only allowed to have one posting handle. Anyone found posting under dual identities will have both accounts terminated.


DoubleT8600
RossTrudeauNYC

bye bye

Dang, it's an epidemic. "And the seventh moderator poured forth her bowl into the air and loud voice cried out saying, 'It is done.'"

That's what happens to dual accounts.

 

[DKSuddeth]

Ban the Iranian judo team. If they want to continue that crap, ban the whole country.

 

[freeandfun1]

Ban the Iranian judo team. If they want to continue that crap, ban the whole country.

Since they acknowledge it is a policy of the entire Iranian delegation, I say send em packing.

I wonder if they might just be using this (the Muslims) as a catalyst to do something during the games. This could be part of a bigger scheme. I cannot believe that they even considered that during the entire Olympics they would never face an Israeli. I am willing to bet they were planning for this event for a while now.

I guess I just don't trust em at all.

 

[freeandfun1]

Which reminds me... "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." -Guess who...hehe...

Last I checked, humans are born with TWO hands. If one hand is cut off, it is safe to assume he would have another. DOH!

 

[DKSuddeth]

Since they acknowledge it is a policy of the entire Iranian delegation, I say send em packing.

I wonder if they might just be using this (the Muslims) as a catalyst to do something during the games. This could be part of a bigger scheme. I cannot believe that they even considered that during the entire Olympics they would never face an Israeli. I am willing to bet they were planning for this event for a while now.

I guess I just don't trust em at all.

that very well could be, combine that with the threat of the missile distance now, and its a recipe for a bigger conflict in the middle east.

 

[freeandfun1]

13- Dual Accounts -Users are only allowed to have one posting handle. Anyone found posting under dual identities will have both accounts terminated.


DoubleT8600
RossTrudeauNYC

bye bye

You know, if the board libs had any legs to stand on in regards to their arguments, positions, why would they have to create dual accounts? To me, it just goes to show you that their (the lib's) number one problem is that they figure they MUST win at all cost. It even shows in their politics. They hate conservatives because we are too logical and therefore, they have to create dual accounts so they can have somebody that agrees with them.

 

[freeandfun1]

that very well could be, combine that with the threat of the missile distance now, and its a recipe for a bigger conflict in the middle east.

So I am not the only one that noticed their latest missiles could reach Greece and then considered the current events.

**Correction: The newest Iranian missile still cannot reach Greece (max range is suspected of being 1,300 KM (780 miles). But it does easily reach Israel. Either way, the end results would be the same.

Paranoid? Yes. How can you not be after 9-11?

 

[DKSuddeth]

So I am not the only one that noticed their latest missiles could reach Greece and then considered the current events.

**Correction: The newest Iranian missile still cannot reach Greece (max range is suspected of being 1,300 KM (780 miles). But it does easily reach Israel. Either way, the end results would be the same.

Paranoid? Yes. How can you not be after 9-11?

if you're paranoid, then that would make me paranoid also. If people can't see that Iran is a threat because they are still pursuing nuclear weapons along with having missiles that can reach Israel AND still don't recognize Israels right to exist, then they have bigger problems that only a doctor could help with.

 

[freeandfun1]

if you're paranoid, then that would make me paranoid also. If people can't see that Iran is a threat because they are still pursuing nuclear weapons along with having missiles that can reach Israel AND still don't recognize Israels right to exist, then they have bigger problems that only a doctor could help with.

I totally agree.

 

[Dave]

Didn't want to get the smell of gifelte fish and those fucking greasy hair locks that hang down on the sides of their heads on him.

You are not fit enough to lick the sack of a Jewish man.

 

[Annie]

You are not fit enough to lick the sack of a Jewish man.

First post and you flame? Better change quick! First warning by moderator.

 

[OCA]

You are not fit enough to lick the sack of a Jewish man.

Hehehe oh boy!