Olympic Games: Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine forfeits not to face an Israeli

Photo of the Nippon Budokan, venue for the judo events of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, here July 23, 2021. AP - Vincent Thian

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Fethi Nourine will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics, which officially opens this Friday, July 23.

He announced his decision Thursday evening on Algerian television.

The judoka (less than 73 kilos) explained that he did not want to have to face an Israeli opponent in his part of the table;

if he had beaten the Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrasool on Monday in the first round, he should have fought then against the Israeli Tohar Butbul.

“ 

We worked hard to qualify for the Games, but the Palestinian cause is bigger than all of that,

 ” said Fethi Nourine, who had done so before at the 2019 Worlds in Tokyo.

In his absence, Algeria will only be represented in judo by Sonia Asselah (over 78 kilos).

  • Olympic Games

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