Mir-Esmaeili, a two-time champion who carried the Iranian flag at the opening Olympic ceremony, was more than five kilograms over the limit when weighed in to fight Israeli Ehud Vaks.
According to the BBC, the IJF accepted Mir-Esmaeili’s claim that he had no pre-planned intention not to fight. "The IJF has no rule for penalizing overweight athletes," the body said, quoting Mir-Esmaeili saying he had "made no statement of any sort to any press."
According to IRNA, Mir-Esmaeili said the following after his cancelled bout against Vaks: "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape, I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all."
Iranian judo competitors pulled out of two fights against Israeli opponents at the 2001 world judo championships.
Although Iran's President Mohammad Khatami lauded Mir-Esmaeili's actions, saying that they would be recorded among Iran’s glories, the Iranian Olympic team told the IJF that the judoka had suffered from digestive problems since arriving in Athens and had therefore been unable to lose enough weight to take part in the fight.
According to the BBC, the IJF accepted Mir-Esmaeili’s claim that he had no pre-planned intention not to fight. "The IJF has no rule for penalizing overweight athletes," the body said, quoting Mir-Esmaeili saying he had "made no statement of any sort to any press."
According to IRNA, Mir-Esmaeili said the following after his cancelled bout against Vaks: "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape, I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all."
Iranian judo competitors pulled out of two fights against Israeli opponents at the 2001 world judo championships.
Although Iran's President Mohammad Khatami lauded Mir-Esmaeili's actions, saying that they would be recorded among Iran’s glories, the Iranian Olympic team told the IJF that the judoka had suffered from digestive problems since arriving in Athens and had therefore been unable to lose enough weight to take part in the fight.