An Iranian news agency reported that Iranian world-champion judoka Saeid Mollaei deliberately lost his to a Kazakh opponent in the recently-concluded Paris Grand Slam tournament to avoid meeting Israeli Sagi Muki in the semifinals. Mollaei recovered to win the bronze medal but was "injured" right after the match so he would not have to stand on the podium with Muki, who won the silver medal.
A few months ago in Abu-Dhabi, Mollaei limped off the mat after a quarterfinal match to avoid a semifinal against Muki. A number of Iranian fans criticized the Iranian judo officials after Sunday's incident, calling the moves "strange decisions that only serve the Jews," and asked, "How much longer will this situation continue?"