Iran’s Geraei to miss Olympics after one-year ban
Iranian Greco-Roman wrestler Mohammad-Ali Geraei was handed a 12-month ban by the United World Wrestling due to an incident at September’s World Championships in Belgrade.
Geraei was also fined 1,000 Swiss franc, with the Iranian Wrestling Federation also receiving a 5,000 Swiss franc penalty.
The UWW’s decision means the three-time world bronze winner will be ruled out of the Olympic qualification tournaments in the coming months and the main event in Paris itself – starting July next year.
The Japan Wrestling Federation had lodged a complaint over the Iranian’s misconduct during a 67kg bout featuring his younger Mohammadreza and Kyotaro Sogabe of Japan in the Serbian capital.
Mohammadreza had a 10-9 advantage over the Japanese but was clearly out of breath with 1:15 minutes left on the clock, when his older brother, who had been knocked out of the 77kg contests earlier, threw a bottle of mineral water on the mat to halt the bout, presumably buying the Iranian some time to restore strength.
A world and Olympic champion in 2021, Mohammadreza held on for an 11-10 victory but a technical-fall humiliation against Azerbaijani Hasrat Javarov in the quarterfinals saw the Iranian eventually settle for a bronze medal.
A third world medal in as many years was still enough for Mohammadreza to secure a berth at next year’s Games in the French capital.
Mohammad-Ali, 29, was the captain of the Iranian six-man squad at the Olympics two years ago, where he delivered some impressive performances but was unlucky to leave Tokyo empty-handed after a defeat against the host’s Shohei Yabiku in the bronze medal contest.
Iran Greco-Roman head coach Hassan Rangraz lamented the UWW verdict as being “harsh”, adding: “We were hoping he could finish his career with an Olympic medal.”
Meanwhile, Alireza Dabir, the chairman of the Iranian federation, said the country would lodge an appeal to reduce the wrestler’s ban.
In Geraei’s absence, Amin Kavianinejad – a two-time world junior champion and a silver winner in October’s Asian Games – will be the likely frontrunner in Iran’s quest for the Olympic quota, though he will have to win the domestic championships next month before competing in the qualification events.
Iran has already bagged four of the six Greco-Roman quotas for Olympics after Amin Mirzazadeh won the 130kg gold in Belgrade, coupled with the 67kg and 97kg bronze medals for Mohammadreza Geraei and Mohammad-Hadi Saravi, while Mahdi Mohsennejad finished fifth in the 60kg weight class.