Iran has banned a weightlifter from sports for life and dissolved a sports committee after the athlete greeted an Israeli counterpart on a podium.
Mostafa Rajaei, a veteran weightlifter, finished second in his category in the 2023 World Master Weightlifting Championships in Poland and stood on a podium with an Iranian flag wrapped around him on Saturday.
On anther step of the podium stood Maksim Svirsky from Israel, who finished third.
The two athletes shook hands and took a picture together, which led to the Iran Weightlifting Federation banning Rajaei from all sports for life due to what it called an “unforgivable” transgression.
She’s shown support for her country doing so to the other contestants nation.
Let’s try an analogy, if a hate group burn down your house, then a month later you end up in say, a darts tournament, against a member of said hate group. Not the one that burned your house down, but someone who made it clear they were happy that the event happened, do you think it’s fair you should be expected to act civilly to said person?
Let’s take the “Nazi bar” analogy people love to quote, do you think in that scenario the bartender was in the wrong to kick out the Nazi, since he’s never kicked a BAME persons head in, he just likes the people who do an their iconography?
The official US policy to kill civilians. Between the coup and the proxy war we have more ukrainiajn blood on our hands than anyone. Did she shake a US competitor’s hand?
If you can’t behave civilly with another person you have no business swinging a sword at them. You should protest the event hosting them if you feel so strongly about it. You certainly shouldn’t be participating in the event. If you decide to show up and compete against the other person you’re already past all that, and now you need to behave civilly with them.
The point is, sure, there are people who don’t deserve respect. But respect is a necessary prerequisite for this kind of competition. If you can’t respect your opponent you shouldn’t be competing against them. You can’t disrespect them and also compete against them, you pick one or the other.