translated from Spanish: An Algerian judoka resigned from Tokyo 2020 to not face his Israeli colleague

Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine on Friday resigned from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics so as not to have to face an Israeli opponent in his side of the draw. It’s not the first time something like this has happened, Nourine also did the same at the 2019 World Cup.The athlete told his country’s media: “We’ve worked hard to qualify for the Games, but the Palestinian cause is bigger than all this” plus “We’re not going to make israel’s flag rise and we’re not going to get our hands dirty facing an Israeli”Let’s remember that , the 30-year-old judoka, was to be part of the -73ki achieved category and would debut on Monday against The Sudanese Mohamed Abdalrassool in the first round. The second bout would be against Israeli Tohar Butbul, for whom he decided to leave the contest. For his part, his coach, Amar Ben Yekhlef stated: “We weren’t lucky with the draw. Nourine fell to the Israeli in the second round and that is the reason for his withdrawal”The conflict between Israeli and Islamic athletes in judo also had its manifestation in Rio 2016, when the Egyptian El Shahaby refused after his defeat to shake the hand of the Israeli Sasson.

Original source in Spanish