A four-year suspension of the Islamic Republic of Iran Judo Federation has been upheld ©Getty Images

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld a four-year suspension of Iran handed down by the International Judo Federation (IJF) over judoka Saeid Mollaei being ordered to lose at the 2019 World Championships to avoid facing an opponent from Israel.

The IJF Disciplinary Commission suspended the Islamic Republic of Iran Judo Federation (IRIJF) for four years on April 28 2021 over "repeated and severe breaches" of the organisation's statutes and the values of Olympism.

The IRIJF appealed the sanction to the CAS, having previously successfully appealed an indefinite suspension it was given in the same case.

The IRIJF argued the four-year ban was "inappropriate" and "disproportionate" in a hearing held at the CAS on November 23 2021, and also claimed it went against instructions in the initial CAS verdict on what area of the IJF Disciplinary Code should be used.

However, the CAS dismissed these arguments and found its previous judgement gave no such instructions.

The CAS also said the annulment of the indefinite suspension did not mean the IJF had to begin the disciplinary process again.

Saeid Mollaei was ordered to throw a match at the 2019 World Championships to avoid facing an Israeli opponent ©Getty Images
Saeid Mollaei was ordered to throw a match at the 2019 World Championships to avoid facing an Israeli opponent ©Getty Images

When the IRIJF appealed against an indefinite suspension, the CAS ruled such a sanction had no basis in the IJF's regulations so overturned it, but did find Iran had "committed severe violations of the IJF rules and that sanctions compliant with the IJF regulations should be imposed on it".

The three-person CAS panel dismissed the IRIJF appeal without costs, although it was ordered to pay a CHF1,000 (£900/$1,050/€1,030) office fee and a CHF4,000 (£3,600/$4,220/€4,140) contribution to the IJF's legal fees.

Jacques Radoux from Luxembourg, legal secretary at the European Court of Justice, was the President of the CAS panel, joined by arbitrators Ahmadreza Barati from Iran and Hans Nater from Switzerland.

The ruling means the IRIJF will remain suspended until September 17 2023, as the sanction is deemed to have started in 2019.

Iranian judoka cannot take part in IJF competitions during this time.

"The decision was challenged by the IRIJF but following the CAS hearing held in November 2021, the court ruled in favour of the IJF, reiterating the serious breaches that were found and established in CAS' first verdict, which served as the basis for the suspension of the IRIJF from all activities for a period of four years, namely a full Olympic cycle," the IJF said in response to the verdict.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport had previously overturned an indefinite suspension as it had no basis in the IJF's regulations, but found Iran had
The Court of Arbitration for Sport had previously overturned an indefinite suspension as it had no basis in the IJF's regulations, but found Iran had "committed severe violations of the IJF rules" ©Getty Images

"The IJF salutes the CAS ruling and considers the decision a fair and important step in combatting discrimination in sport. 

"The IJF will continue to fight for all members of the judo family facing any kind of discrimination."

Mollaei was pressured to lose his semi-final at the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo to avoid meeting Israel's Sagi Muki in the men's under-81 kilograms final.

Iran does not recognise Israel and Iranian athletes have frequently withdrawn from competitions to avoid facing opponents from Israel.

Mollaei sought refuge in Germany after revealing Iranian officials threatened to hurt him and his family if he did not withdraw or deliberately lose.

Mollaei represented Mongolia at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, winning a silver medal, before switching allegiance to Azerbaijan from this year.