Last Wednesday, minutes before the semi-final in which the Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei competed, and minutes after Israeli judoka Sagi Muki's semi-finals victory, Mollaei received a call from Iran.
According to the report on Sunday in Galei Tzahal, Saeid’s mother was on the line, requesting that he resign before the match to avoid a situation in which he is forced to compete against the Israeli contender, according to sources involved in the competition.
It was also revealed that a few hours before, International Judo Federation Chairman Marius Vizer had assigned one of his security guards to Mollaei so that he would not be exposed to threats. Mollaei's physiotherapist, the only person allowed to be in his area before the matches, was the one who linked Mollaei to Iranian authorities.
Minutes later, the angry Vizer, who was informed about the call from the security guard, called Iranian President Rouhani, scolding him that if Mollaei resigned or faked an injury so as not to face Muki, Iran would no longer have athletes in the Olympics.
Following reports on the matter over the weekend, the same sources confirmed that Mollaei had agreed with Vizer on political asylum, and that he was in Germany, where he would start competing on the refugee team, without any ban.