IRAN: NO BASKETBALL WITH JOOOOZZZZ!!!

Iran skips basketball tourney
Iran opted not to attend an international basketball tournament in Argentina rather than face the Israeli squad. Iran had been scheduled to compete in the same six-team zone at the Under-21 World Basketball Tournament as Israel. The Iranians claimed visa problems, but Argentine Foreign Ministry officials and the tournament organizers dismissed that argument. The organizing committee said it had tried to ensure that the two teams wouldn’t stay in the same hotel, and had planned training sessions for the teams at different times. Argentine Jewish groups lamented the Iranians’ attitude.

“Sports and politics should not be mixed,” said Marcos Barembaum, president of the DAIA-Cordoba Jewish organization. Sergio Widder, Latin American representative of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said, “We not only condemn this attitude, but we demand strong sanctions against those who practice this kind of boycott. It would be a welcome gesture if the other countries participating in the tournament spoke out publicly against these actions.”

This is not the first time Iranian athletes have boycotted Israel: Iran’s judo champion, Arash Miresmaeili, refused to take the floor at the 2004 Olympic Games against Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks. Last year, Iranian sports authorities prohibited soccer star Vahid Hashemian from traveling to Israel with his Bayern Munich team to play Maccabi Tel Aviv.