Last Wednesday, minutes before the semi-finals in which Iranian judoka Said Mulay competed, and minutes after Sagi Muki's victory in the semi-finals, Iranian Mulay's teammate received a call from Iran: It was Said's mother asking him to retire before the fight to avoid facing Israeli Sagi Muki, reports Galei Tzahal.
According to sources involved in the competition, it was also revealed that a few hours earlier, World Judo Association Chairman Marius Wieser had attached one of his security guards to Mulay so he would not be exposed to threats. Mulay's physiotherapist, the only person allowed to be in his area before the fighting, was the one who made contact between the Iranian authorities and Mulay.
Minutes later, the angry Wieser who received information about the call from the security guard, called on President Iranian Rouhani, rebuking him that if Mulay quit or faked an injury so as not to face Muki, Iran would no longer have athletes in the Olympics.
As for the weekend reports, the same source confirmed that Mulay had agreed with Wieser on political asylum, and that he was in Germany, where he would start competing in the refugee team, without any ban. In this way, Mulay leaves his family in Tehran facing the Revolutionary Guards.