2026-08-26T12:01:55+00:00
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Shafaq News- Baghdad
An Iraqi mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter has withdrawn from a youth
world championship in Abu Dhabi rather than face an Israeli opponent in the
quarter-finals, according to a statement from the Iraqi MMA Federation.
Dari al-Obaidi said he pulled out after winning bouts against fighters
from Uzbekistan and Georgia at the tournament, the seventh Youth World
Championships of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF), which
opened August 17 at Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi and runs through August 23.
The draw then paired him in the quarter-finals with an Israeli
competitor who had topped his group, and al-Obaidi said he withdrew rather than
compete against him. “My decision is in support of the Palestinian cause. It
carried national, moral, and religious value that outweighed a medal.”
The head of the Iraqi MMA Federation, Raed Jamil Abbas, said facing an
Israeli opponent would conflict with the federation’s values and principles,
and called al-Obaidi’s withdrawal a matter of honor rather than a lost medal.
Al-Obaidi’s father, Musab Bakr al-Obaidi, said he was proud of his son’s
decision.
Iraqi athletes have withdrawn from international events rather than face
Israeli competitors on several previous occasions. In 2022, two Iraqi
wheelchair tennis players pulled out of a tournament in Romania, and in 2023
the Iraqi Olympic Committee criticized a weightlifter who competed alongside an
Israeli lifter at the world championships in Saudi Arabia. Athletes from other
Arab and Muslim countries such as Iran and Algeria have taken similar
positions.
Iraq does not recognize Israel, and the two countries have no diplomatic
relations. A law passed by the Iraqi parliament in 2022 criminalizes the
normalization of political, economic, cultural, and other ties with Israel,
with penalties ranging up to life imprisonment.