Dream of a Migrant's Son to Compete in the Olympic Gashed—How Alireza Abbasi Was Barred from the Olympic
Afghanistan migrants have been living in Iran for over three decades, and this segment of society has many active and talented individuals in various fields including culture, education, economy ...
Mohajir Times— An Afghan taekwondo athlete residing in Iran has been barred from participating in the Olympics due to non-approval of his documents in Iran. Alireza Abbasi, who qualified for the Olympic Games through the Refugee Olympic Team of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has been replaced by a taekwondo athlete from Hong Kong.
Fariborz Asghari, Abbasi’s coach and former head coach of the Iranian national team, stated, “The IOC sent a secondary verification request for Abbasi’s documents to the General Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs of Iran, which apparently was not answered at that time.”
Alireza Abbasi secured an Olympic quota in the 68 kg weight category at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament hosted by China. He earned his spot by defeating competitors from Syria, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, alongside Tubtimdang from Thailand, who is the Asian Games champion and 2023 world silver medalist. In an interview with Tehran's “Etimad” newspaper, Fariborz Asghari, the 1995 world silver medalist, expressed his concern not only for Abbasi but also for the Palestinian representative, stating, “The right belongs to the Palestinian taekwondo athlete, not the Hong Kong athlete. We made this clear, but they didn’t listen.”
Efforts to "claim the rights" of a representative from another country are rare in global federations. According to regulations, the right to compete in the Olympics belongs to Alireza Abbasi, who earned the quota. However, the non-approval of his documents by the Iranian Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs has dashed his Olympic dreams. Additionally, according to the rules, the representatives from Hong Kong and Palestine competed against each other, with Ahmad Bahloul losing in both rounds. It remains unclear why the Iranian federation considers a defeated athlete more deserving than the field winner.
The Iranian Taekwondo Federation has attributed the negligence and delay in responding to the IOC to the organization itself, as well as blaming the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and the UNHCR office in Tehran. Despite Abbasi's exclusion from the Paris Olympics due to non-technical reasons, his scholarship has been extended to the 2028 Olympics.
However, Sayed Sadegh Hashimi, head of the Refugee Committee of the Iranian Taekwondo Federation, stated that the reason for Abbasi's absence from the Olympics is not solely due to the Iranian Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs, but also the IOC and UNHCR are to blame, as they did not approve Abbasi’s asylum request.
Hashimi claims that these two international bodies did not request verification about Abbasi from the Iranian Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs. However, Abbasi asserts that the IOC’s letter to the Directorate went unanswered, resulting in his exclusion from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Some sports and refugee affairs experts view Hashimi’s statement—blaming not only the Iranian Directorate of Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs but also the IOC and UNHCR for not approving Abbasi’s asylum request—as ironic, suggesting that such actions are not about law but rather about suppressing talented immigrants in Iran under the name of asylum and other labels.
Afghanistan migrants have been living in Iran for over three decades, and this segment of society has many active and talented individuals in various fields including culture, education, economy, sports, and art. Despite this, the second and third-generation elite immigrants, who have never even seen their homeland, face numerous legal restrictions due to their immigrant status. Alireza Abbasi’s case is a prime example of this modern-day predicament. #mohajirtimes
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