{"id":106724,"date":"2023-09-23T17:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106724"},"modified":"2023-09-21T10:49:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T08:49:12","slug":"05-00-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=106724","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Weightlifter Receives Lifetime Ban for Shaking Hands With Israeli Competitor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Iranian Weightlifter Receives Lifetime Ban for Shaking Hands With Israeli Competitor<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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An Israeli flag is burned by protesters at the 2019 \u201cQuds Day\u201d demonstration in Tehran. Photo: Reuters\/Meghdad Madali.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

An Iranian weightlifter was given a lifetime ban by authorities inside Iran for shaking hands with an Israeli competitor at the Masters World Weightlifting Championships in Wieliczka, Poland, which concluded on Saturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Weightlifting Federation bans the athlete Mostafa Rajai for life from accessing all sports facilities in the country, and dismisses the head of the delegation for the competition, Hamid Salehinia,\u201d the federation said in a statement cited by the Iranian state news agency IRNA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rajai, who previously represented Iran at the 2015 Asian Championships, finished second in his category at the competition in Poland and stood on a podium with an Iranian flag wrapped around him on Saturday. He then shook hands and took a photo with Israeli weightlifter Maksim Svirsky, who finished third, while they both stood on the podium together.<\/span><\/p>\n

The athlete \u201ccrossed the red lines of the Islamic Republic\u201d as the Iranian delegation \u201cwas sent with the support of the federation,\u201d according to IRNA.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to apologizing to the leader of the revolution, the families of martyrs and all the people of Iran, I promise we will certainly never witness incidents like this in the weightlifting family,\u201d the federation\u2019s chief, Sajad Anoushiravani, reportedly said in a statement quoted by Al Jazeera.<\/span><\/p>\n

The federation added that a committee representing veteran weightlifters has also been disbanded.<\/span><\/p>\n

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