Iran rewards judo 'sacrifice'

IRAN have given world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili a $125,000 reward, saying he sacrificed a gold medal at the Athens Olympics by refusing to fight an Israeli.

State television showed Miresmaeili at an award ceremony receiving the same sum as Hossein Rezazadeh, who took the super-heavyweight weightlifting gold at the second Olympics in succession.

"He would definitely have won a gold medal if he had taken part," said a sports official, who asked not to be named. "By refusing to fight, Miresmaeili followed the policies of the country."

The International Judo Federation considered a sanction against Miresmaeili during the Games, but concluded that he had been overweight for the fight and could not have taken part. The IOC did not take any action.

Miresmaeili was drawn against Israel’s Ehud Vaks in the first round of the men’s under 66 kg category in Athens. After officials said initially he would not fight against an Israeli, Miresmaeili was withdrawn because he was overweight.