An Olympic athlete from Sudan has pulled out of competition rather than compete against an Israeli athlete. Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool did not show up on Monday for his bout with Tohar Butbul in the men’s 73-kg. division in judo. Abdalrasool had weighed in for the match, but then did not show up for the competition.
It is the second athlete to pull out of bouts with the Israeli judoka. Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine pulled out of competition on Friday rather than face Butbul. Nourine’s credentials were withdrawn by the Algerian Olympic Committee and he was sent home. Nourine had said in interviews with the Algerian media that he would not fight an Israeli competitor due to his support for the Palestinian cause. The International Judo Federation has not commented on why Nourine did not show up for his bout with Butbul.
Sudan signed a normalization agreement with Israel in January, which was widely panned in the African country.
Turkey took two bronze medals in taekwondo on Sunday. Hakan Reçber beat Bosnia’s Nedzad Husic in the men’s 68-kilogram third-place match, and Hatice Kübra İlgün earned her bronze in the women’s 57-kilogram category.