An Iranian athlete reports anonymously from his country on the protest movement and its consequences. His shocking statements make it clear that a discussion about red lines for sports associations is overdue.
When Ahmad talks about sport in his home country, resignation resonates in his voice. “For us athletes, it’s kind of like we’ve lost our goal“, says the internationally successful athlete in an interview with the sports show. Ahmad’s real name and his identity remain anonymous for security reasons, so as not to endanger his life and his family in Iran.
Ahmad is one of the first athletes to speak from Iran about the protest movement and its consequences. “They murder people here like it’s a piece of cake, for no reason whatsoever“, he says. Looking at the athletes who have recently been tortured or executed, he speaks of “Crimes against humanity“, die “naturally an effect on our tempers” had: “We are all afraid, especially of our future.“
Perspectives dwindle, fear grows
Ahmad says that it is not just the fear of arbitrary acts by the mullah regime that is currently causing problems for the athletes in Iran. Since the Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the vice police in mid-September and the growing protest movement has been fought with brutal violence, the lack of prospects and planning security have also played an increasing role.
“In this situation, we don’t know where this government, where this regime is drifting to. As this revolution progresses, sport may be suspended for the time being. We kind of proceed aimlessly“, says Ahmad. That’s one of the reasons why ski racer Atefeh Ahmadi recently fled the country. She was the only Iranian athlete at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where a year ago she proudly carried the flag at the opening ceremony.
Lists of victims getting longer
But more and more athletes are dying as a result of the regime’s acts of violence. The lists of victims from human rights organizations such as the Center of Human Rights in Iran are getting longer. Among other things, the names of the footballer Mohammad Ghaemi Far, the volleyball player Ali Mozzafari or the strength athlete Ehsan Ghasemifar are written on it, all of whom were killed during protest rallies.
And of course the name Mohammad Mehdi Karami is there too. The karate master was hanged on January 7 for allegedly killing a militia officer, following a show trial he faced without a lawyer. A video then appeared on social media showing Karami playfully training with his father. They may be the last pictures before his arrest. Above all, such shaky pictures from the Internet, shared thousands of times, make the horror in Iran tangible. Free reporting from the country has not been possible for months.
Quiet diplomacy comes to nothing
The sports federations and the International Olympic Committee are largely silent on the dramatic situation, although athletes are obviously among the groups that the mullah regime likes to make examples of. When asked by ARD, the IOC wrote that it was with a view to Iran “extremely concerned”. One is in contact with the Iranian NOK and “highest places”treat the situation “within the scope of responsibilities”. Shortly before Karamis’s execution, President Thomas Bach had appealed for clemency to the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei – in vain. Silent diplomacy that comes to nothing.
“The lives of athletes in Iran also depend on the IOC’s ability to reach out more to its partners”says Minky Worden, director of global initiatives and sports policy expert Human Rights Watch, in the ARD interview. And the IOC partner, the National Olympic Committee, is to be equated with the Iranian government.
“Gap between claim and reality”
Critics of the IOC suspect that Bach’s quiet diplomacy is so quiet above all because the business model of the Order of the Rings should not be endangered. Key partners may find visual and audible interference disruptive. Maximilian Klein, representative for international sports policy at Athletes Germany, has long seen one “big gap between claim and reality” in the so-called world government of sport.
“The IOC has an overall human rights responsibility as the umbrella organization of the Olympic movement. It has now finally recognized this in its human rights strategy. And these words must now be followed by action. And we have our doubts,” says small.
Athletes Germany has been calling for Iran to be excluded from world sport for more than two years because of ongoing, massive violations of human rights. The athletes from the country should be allowed to start under a neutral flag. A special right that, according to the lobby organization, should no longer be granted to Russian and Belarusian athletes because of the war of aggression in Ukraine.
Debate on red lines is missing
Klein emphasizes that Iran, Russia and Belarus are just three of many problem countries. He refers to the blatant violations of human rights in Afghanistan, Qatar or China and the more or less noticeable, but in any case uncoordinated handling of sport. An approach that is also massively influenced by how powerful the respective country is in the world sports structure.
“There is a plethora of problems and they are simply ignored. Behind this is a larger systemic problem: there is no debate about sanction criteria and red lines.”says Klein.
“In the end see light again”
Ahmad believes that the Iranian people have a primary responsibility for bringing about change in their homeland. He would still welcome tough measures up to an Olympic exclusion in Paris in 2024.
“If that has an effect, if it bears fruit, if this regime disappears and a good government comes into power, then I’m all for it, no problem! We might lose two or three years of our youth, but we would then have a clear one Tomorrow, a clear future ahead of us”said is: “We are about to go into the dark. We have to keep going until we finally see light again.”
