On Monday morning Tohar Butbul was waiting for the fight of his life at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.

Judo, men up to 73 kilograms.

And above all: the Olympics.

For him for the first time.

Unfortunately he waited in vain.

His opponent, Mohamed Abdalrasool from Sudan, was not there.

Butbul won the way you don't want to win as an athlete: without a fight.

It is still unclear why Abdalrasool was not there.

According to Butbul - who fortunately was able to fight three times before leaving - his team had been told that his shoulder was injured.

Which is at least strange because he was still there for the official weigh-in.

And so the suspicion arises that Abdalrasool did not disturb his shoulder, but something else.

That Tohar Butbul is from Israel.

"Just happens to us Israeli athletes"

In the case of Abdalrasool that has not been clarified, in that of Fethi Nourine it is. The Algerian had canceled his participation in the games a few days ago because he could have faced Butbul in the second round. He said in the Algerian press that this was inconsistent with his political beliefs. The National Olympic Committee of his country withdrew his accreditation, the World Judo Federation suspended him for the time being.

And what does Tohar Butbul say?

“These are things that sometimes happen in judo.

It wasn't that unusual for me.

That happens to us Israeli athletes. ”Hatred of Israel and anti-Semitism are not new in sport either.

And yet these sentences were particularly depressing.

Because there in the middle of the Olympia stage, this great gathering of the world's youth, spoke a man who in his sporting life has repeatedly experienced that what is ordinary is what should not be ordinary.

It must be a bad feeling when your opponent throws you on the mat, but a lot worse when your opponent doesn't want to throw you on the mat.

Sometimes athletes do it of their own free will, sometimes apparently not.

Iranian doctrine

Another example from judo: In Tokyo, where the world championship was held in 2019, the Iranian Saeid Mollaei was instructed by his association and by the powerful of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which does not recognize Israel as a state, according to his own statements not to compete in the semifinals. A final against the Israeli Sagi Muki, his friend, as Mollaei says, was possible. He fought anyway - and fled to Germany. That Tuesday, Mollaei won silver in Tokyo. For Mongolia.

As a result, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was asked to suspend the Iranian National Olympic Committee (NOK) - as the World Judo Federation did with the Iranian Judo Federation. The IOC refused. In January 2020, its President Thomas Bach said that the NOK of Iran had promised to “fully comply with the Olympic Charter in the future”. But really now? Are you kidding me? Are you serious when you say that. The Iranian leadership stands firmly by its doctrine: Israel is not legitimized by sporting competitions.

Unfortunately, one cannot hope for those who make the rules, but mostly only for those who are subject to them.

On Monday, exiled oppositionist Masih Alinejad posted a video on her Twitter channel.

It shows the Iranian Vahid Sarlak, who once fought against an Israeli, therefore now lives in Germany and trains the teams from Tajikistan.

He stands in Tokyo next to an Israeli trainer who looks at him and says: “I wish that one day I can come to Iran and you to Israel.

And we'll be friends. ”How nice that they say that.

How sad to have to say that.