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Subscriptions help us deliver original coverage of the region's most important issues.The story: Two female Iranian taekwondokas—one fighting for the Refugee Team, the other for Iran—have clashed in the Tokyo Olympics in what has come to surpass a mere sports competition. As reactions continue to pour in from Iranians, the fight has come to symbolize a lose-lose moment for the nation, with fierce criticism against a political establishment accused of pushing out and shunning national heroes for ideological reasons.
The coverage: The rare fight in Tokyo on July 25 saw Kimia Alizadeh from the Refugee Team facing her fellow countrywoman, Nahid Kiani. To many Iranians, the match was an awkward, and even sad, drama in which Alizadeh was announced the winner.
While ultimately finishing fourth in the competition, Alizadeh astounded British commentators by defeating reigning UK champion Jade Jones, crushing her dreams of a third straight Olympic gold.
When only 19, Alizadeh grabbed a bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics to make history as the first Iranian woman to have ever won an Olympic medal. She subsequently defected to Germany in 2020 after reportedly coming under pressure from the authorities.
The live coverage of the fight in Tokyo by Iran's conservative-dominated state broadcaster drew a backlash from many viewers. The commentator refused to mention Alizadeh's name even once, which was interpreted by some observers as a purposeful humiliation of a champion.
"Replete with hate-mongering and hooliganism," Turkey-based sports journalist Ehsan Naderpour said of state TV’s coverage of the sports event. "It was like two parts of my body kicking one another," wrote Iranian novelist, Reza Amirkhani.
Others, including Reformist activist Mehdi Mahmoudian, came out with stronger political messages, blaming the political establishment for "pitting the two against one another" with their policy of "dividing the youths into revolutionaries and non-revolutionaries," an open allusion to a recurrent theme in speeches by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Yet, hardline media outlets did not abstain from launching sharp attacks against Alizadeh, accusing her of "ungratefulness" and "betrayal" of her homeland. This framing was echoed by activists on Iranian social media: "The champion is the one who fights for her country rather than against it," tweeted conservative Reza Salehi.
Such attitudes, however, were challenged by other conservative activists as "polarizing," emphasizing that the two athletes "are both from the same homeland, a homeland held in captivity by a ruling system which is against its own people." In this vein, France-based exiled Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani wrote on her Instagram page, "Kimia is not stateless. She is the vastest of all lands. We are all one another's homeland."
To prove their point, many critical Iranians also highlighted a marking on Alizadeh's dobok—the uniform worn by taekwondokas—which bore the three colors of the Iranian flag, a sign, they said, of her passionate patriotism.
The context/analysis: Women are allowed to engage in sports activities in Iran but must also observe the mandatory hijab when representing the country at international events. Caught between restrictions imposed by both Olympic and Iranian authorities, Iranian women athletes thus often face contentions over their attire.
For years, the Islamic Republic has also been facing accusations of pressuring its athletes to act on the basis of other ideological or political considerations. Under a controversial unwritten rule, Iranian athletes must avoid Israeli counterparts in international competitions. The latter ultimately led Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei to also defect from the Iranian national team. He did so in protest against being deprived of a run at a medal in the 2019 World Championships, having been pressured to avoid a clash with an Israeli opponent.
As for Alizadeh, upon her return from the Rio Olympics with a bronze medal back in 2016, she received a hero's welcome from Iranian authorities—including Khamenei, who expressed admiration for "the brave lady in full hijab." Nevertheless, behind the curtains, the young athlete seemed to have been facing major pressures from the authorities.
Less than four years later, in a bombshell statement, she announced her defection to Germany. "I'm not a champion…nor a flagbearer," she wrote, "I'm just one among millions of repressed Iranian women." Referencing Iranian officials, she complained about how she had to dress "the way they ordered me to" and how her victories were "hijacked whenever they wished." Medals, according to the statement, were targets of "political exploitation."
Alizadeh and four other Iranians are now members of the Refugee Team in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
The future: The intense public debate triggered by the taekwondo match between the two Iranian women has once again put the spotlight on the Islamic Republic's sports management policies. Many Iranians appear to be trying to use the current contention as a wakeup call for the authorities to rethink their current approach.
However, fundamental change seems far away. Refusal to recognize Israel and the mandatory hijab lie at the very core of the ideology of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. As such, a relaxation of associated policies—including a normalization of sports engagements with Israeli nationals—does not appear on the horizon.