Alireza Karimi Machiani (; born 21 March 1994) is an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

freestyle wrestler Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in the 86 kg division. He was eliminated by

J'den Cox J'den Michael Tbory Cox (Help:IPA/English, /ˈdʒeɪdən/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''JAY-dən'', born March 3, 1995) is an American retired Freestyle wrestling, freestyle wrestler and Folkstyle wrestling, folkstyle wrestler who compete ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the third bout at the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He is the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games (), and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, were a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 201 ...

Champion in the 97 kg division and also won gold medals in the Asian Championships in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. In February 2018 the

United World Wrestling United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of Wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the World Championships and Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrest ...

banned Karimi for six months for deliberately throwing a match to avoid having to face an Israeli opponent, Uri Kalashnikov who went on to win the bronze medal. He thereby violated International Wrestling Rules and the UWW Disciplinary Regulations, by intentionally losing to a Russian competitor in the quarterfinal of the U-23 World Championship in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

, Poland, in the 86-kilogram category, in November 2017.Iranian wrestler who threw match to avoid Israeli banned for 6 months , ''The Times of Israel''
/ref> Karimi was then supposed to face the Israeli, Kalashnikov, in the

repechage Repechage ( , ; , ) is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well-known example is the wild card system. Types Different type ...

(to compete for the bronze medal), but he forfeited that match. Karimi’s coach, Hamidreza Jamshidi, was also banned, in his case for two years, for instructing Karimi to lose, shouting from the sidelines: "Ali Reza, lose." Karimi told the

Iranian Students News Agency The Iranian Students' News Agency () (ISNA, Persian: ) established in December 1999, is a news agency run by Iranian university students. Position Based in Tehran and founded in 1999 by Abolfazl Fateh-an ex-aide to former Iranian presidential ...

that he purposefully lost to avoid the risk of competing against the Israeli.Iranian wrestler Alireza Karimi admits he threw match to avoid Israeli
USA Today. Iran's wrestling federation had praised Karimi for throwing the match. Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

criticized the Iranian regime for its actions, and accused it of interfering in sports and pressuring its athletes to not compete against the Israelis, saying "hating others will never make you a champion. It only makes you a pathetic and insecure loser." Iran Wrestling Federation president

Rasoul Khadem Rasoul Khadem Azghadi (, born March 18, 1972) is a former Iranian wrestler who has won a bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics and a gold medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics. He was also the 1994 and 1995 world champion and 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 ...

said: "The federation will protest the verdict ... During his six-month ban, Karimi Mashiani can take part in domestic competitions and in the final stage of the national team selection. His ban will be over before the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games and the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

."Iran protests ban on wrestler who threw bout to avoid Israeli – Samaa TV
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Karimi, Alireza Living people Iranian male sport wrestlers Sportspeople from Gilan province 1994 births World Wrestling Championships medalists Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in wrestling Asian Games gold medalists for Iran Olympic wrestlers for Iran Asian Wrestling Championships medalists 21st-century Iranian sportsmen Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in wrestling Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Iran

See also

References

External links