Second judoka from Sudan drops out of Tokyo Olympics before facing Israeli Occupation opponent

Sport

Published: 2021-07-26 19:31

Last Updated: 2024-03-28 22:09


Credit: The Guardian
Credit: The Guardian

A second judoka, Sudan's Mohamed Abdulrasool has dropped out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to aviod facing the Israeli Occupation's Tohar Butbul in the 73kg division.

Olympic officials say Abdulrasool did not show up despite weighing in for the clash earlier.

Abdulrasool is the world’s 469th-ranked judoka in his weight class, while Butbul is seventh.

The International Judo Foundation (IJF) did not provide further details as to why the Sudanese judoka did not compete, and the governing body didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sudanese Olympic officials also didn’t immediately comment.

Saturday, the International Judo Federation suspended the Algerian judoka, Fethi Nourine, and his coach, Amar Benikhlef, for withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before his event began, after he was set to compete against the athlete representing the Israeli Occupation.

Nourine also quit the world judo championships in 2019 right before he was scheduled to face Butbul.