BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Two Iraqi wheelchair tennis players have withdrawn from an international tournament held in Romania to avoid playing against a Zionist opponent.
Nasr Mahdi and Mohammad al-Mahdi refused to face the Zionist player during the Bucharest Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament 2022, the President of the Iraqi Tennis Federation, Majid al-Ugaili, announced on Friday.
Wheelchair tennis is played in the same way as able-bodied tennis, with the only exception being that a wheelchair tennis player is allowed two bounces of the ball.
The tournament, which begins on 15 August, is part of the “Performance has no limits!” platform and is the result of a partnership between Licinium Foundation and the International Tennis Federation.
The Zionist regime is often accused of using its presence in international sports and cultural events as a means of “sportswashing” its human rights violations. Other Arab athletes have taken public stances against the normalization of relations with the occupying regime under the guise of diplomacy in sportsmanship.
Earlier this year, 14-year-old Kuwaiti tennis player, Muhammad al-Awadi, withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships after he was set to face a Zionist player.
Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine withdrew from the 73kg men’s event at the Tokyo Olympics after he found out he would have to face Zionist fighter Tohar Butbul in the second round.
Algerian football player Ahmed Touba refused to accompany his team, İstanbul Başakşehir, to the occupied territories to play with the Zionist team Maccabi Netanya FC in a European competition.
Last month, Maysir al-Dahamsheh, the star player of the Jordanian national taekwondo team, avoided confrontation with a rival from the Zionist regime in the Cadet and Junior World Championships 2022 hosted by Bulgaria.
The Jordanian taekwondo practitioner failed to bag the bronze medal of the tournament after withdrawing from the competition in protest against the normalization of relations of some Arab countries with the Tel Aviv regime.
In a similar move, Jordanian national fencing player Eyas al-Zamer withdrew from facing a Zionist opponent in a world championship for juniors held in the Emirati city of Dubai.
Iraq has no diplomatic or other ties with the Zionist regime. Its political factions reject normalization with the regime.