|
Kimia Alizadeh, Iran's only female Olympic medalist, defected from the country
 [PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Alizadeh is the third top Iranian sports person to stop representing the country in recent months. In December, Iran’s Chess Federation said top rated chess champion Alireza Firouzja had decided not to play for Iran over its informal ban on competing against Israeli players. Three months earlier, the International Judo Federation said Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei had refused to return home over fears for his safety after he ignored orders from his national federation to pull out of fights to avoid a potential final meeting with an Israeli. Posted by: Fred 2020-01-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=560889 |