PARIS (AP) — Algeria’s Messaoud Dris Paris Olympics The official reason given was that he failed to weigh in the day before he was scheduled to face Israel’s Tohar Butbul in a judo match on Sunday night.
The International Judo Federation issued a short statement declaring Butbul the winner by default.
The bout was scheduled to be the opening bout in the men’s 73kg category on Monday but many suspected it would not happen from the moment the draw last week set up Doris and Butobul to face each other, given the political implications.
For the second consecutive Olympic Games, an Algerian judoka withdrew from the match just before facing Butbul. Algeria’s Fethi Noureen withdraws This is to avoid even a second-round matchup with Butbul.
Noorin made her support for Palestine clear when she announced her decision three years ago. In September 2021, she and her coach, Amar Benikulef, were suspended for 10 years by the International Judo Federation, effectively ending Noorin’s judo career.
Algeria does not officially recognise the state of Israel and relations between the two countries have been tense since the Algerian War decades ago.
Israel’s participation in the Paris Games has been protested on various occasions since Israel launched its attacks on the Gaza Strip last year, but the IOC and the French government have staunchly supported Israel’s right to take part.
Israel had one of the largest judo teams in Paris with 12 athletes, and four Israeli judokas competed on the first two days of the tournament at the Champ de Mars.
None of Israel’s first four judokas escaped their opponents, but Morocco’s Abdelrahman Bushta and Tajikistan’s Nurali Emomali refused to shake hands with Baruk Shmailov after their matches on Sunday. After defeating Bushta, Shmailov touched his fist to the Israeli flag on his gi as Bushta walked away from him.
Doris did not immediately comment on her situation. At 73.4 kilograms, being underweight would be a valid reason to withdraw from the Olympics, but highly trained judokas rarely end up underweight.
Butbul’s second potential opponent also withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics, but Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalrasul was not sanctioned by the IJF due to injury, despite turning up to the weigh-in.
The IJF has been a strong supporter of Israeli athletes in the past, and while Noorin has had a modest career with little international success, Doris is a promising 22-year-old who finished seventh at last year’s world championships and won his third consecutive African championship earlier this year.
Doris would have been more likely to beat Butobul, who was seven places lower than Doris in the IJF rankings earlier this year. Butobul is a veteran judoka whose biggest recent tournament win was last year’s Grand Prix in Linz, Austria.
