Tohar Butbul advanced to the round of 16 in the Paris 2024 Olympics (under 73 kg) without breaking a sweat. His scheduled opponent for the first round on Monday, Algerian judoka Messaoud Dris, disqualified himself during the weigh-in and will not compete.
As a result, Butbul will face Hidayat Heydarov from Azerbaijan, the reigning world champion and current world number one, in the next round. The Israeli delegation commented, "We will continue the competition from a sporting perspective. This has no place in sports."
Notably, this isn't the first time an Algerian opponent has refused to face Butbul in the Olympics. Three years ago in Tokyo, Fethi Nourine withdrew to avoid competing against the Israeli judoka. Nourine's coach, Amar Benikhlef, received a severe penalty and was suspended for 10 years following the incident.
Boycotting Israeli athletes is, unfortunately, a common practice by several hostile countries, mostly Muslim-majority. In 1974, the Israeli Football Association was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation under pressure from Arab nations. Iran is particularly notorious for this, with its athletes consistently withdrawing from competitions against Israelis.
One of the most famous Olympic boycotts occurred at the 2004 Athens Games when Arash Miresmaeili, then the world champion in judo, deliberately failed his weigh-in to avoid a match with Israeli judoka Udi Wax. Miresmaeili openly admitted to doing so for political reasons, stating, "Despite months of training and being in good shape, I refuse to fight against an Israeli out of empathy for the suffering of the Palestinian people. I'm not disappointed at all."
Iranian authorities praised Miresmaeili's action and awarded him a $125,000 bonus, the same amount given to the country's Olympic champions. A spokesperson for the Iranian parliament called it a "brave decision" and said that Miresmaeili had "won a place in the hearts of Muslims."