Mohamed Abdalrasool didn’t show up for his fight against Israel’s Tohar Butbul.
A second judo competitor has quit the Tokyo Olympics instead of having to face an Israeli opponent.
Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool withdrew from his fight against 27-year-old Tohar Butbul in the 73kg class on Monday morning.
Abdalrasool’s withdrawal comes just days after Algerian fighter Fethi Nourine quit the competition because he knew that he could potentially have to face Butbul in a later round. He said that his withdrawal was in protest against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Nourine was very clear about his withdrawal. Butbul is ranked seventh in the world so went straight through the first round. This meant that Nourine knew that if he won his opening round fight he would be facing the Israeli judoka.
He later told Algerian TV that he didn’t want to “get his hands dirty” and thought withdrawing was the “right thing to do.”
He said: “We have worked hard to qualify for the Games, but the Palestinian cause is bigger than all that.
“My position is consistent on the Palestinian issue, and I reject normalisation, and if it cost me that absence from the Olympic Games, God will compensate.”
Abdalrasool, who is ranked 469th in the world, has not yet given a reason for withdrawing from the fight. He did turn up for the weigh-in earlier in the day.
According to the MailOnline, Sudanese Olympic officials and the International Judo Federation have yet to comment on the reasons behind Abdalrasool’s withdrawal.
The withdrawals meant that Butbul managed to make it to the last 16 of the competition without a fight. He did however lose to Canada’s Arthur Margelidon in that round.
