Israeli flag and anthem absent despite judo gold in Abu Dhabi
Israeli judoka Tal Flicker scaled the top of the podium and received his gold medal on Thursday, but the Israel national anthem was not played and the blueand-white flag was not raised in Abu Dhabi.
The 25-year-old won the under-66 kilogram category competition at the Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam, but he had to do so under the flag of the International Judo Federation (IJF), with the event organizers refusing to allow the Israeli team to compete under their country’s flag.
The organizers claimed that, due to security reasons, the Israelis can’t have their flag on their judo uniform and instead of having ISR by their names on the scoreboard and on their backs, they would have to take part as representatives of the IJF, the International Judo Federation. For the same reason, they explained that should an Israeli win a gold medal, “Hatikva” would not be played.
When Flicker received his medal, the IJF played its own anthem in place of Israel’s. Nevertheless, Flicker was seen singing “Hatikva” from atop the podium.
The delegation, numbering 12 athletes, arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital and the second most populous city of the United Arab Emirates, via Amman on Tuesday, a day later than scheduled.
The judokas had waited for seven hours at Ben-Gurion Airport on Monday, only to return home, frustrated after being told that they couldn’t pick up their visas to Abu Dhabi in Istanbul as they had been told.
International Judo Federation president Marius Vizer sent a letter to the organizers on Monday demanding that “the Israeli delegation shall be treated absolutely equally in all aspects.”
Vizer wrote in his letter that the IJF statutes “clearly provide that the IJF shall not discriminate on the ground of race, religion, gender or political opinion.”
However, Abu Dhabi officials still insisted that Israel take part in the event under the IJF flag.
That did nothing to discourage Flicker or Israel’s Gili Cohen, who also picked up a medal on Thursday, taking a bronze in the women’s under-52 kg. competition.
Israel’s Tal Flicker put all the distractions aside and claimed the under 66 kg gold medal at the judo Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. The 25-year-old defeated Nijat Shikhalizada of Azerbaijan in the final, registering an Ippon, judo’s version of a knockout, with 25 seconds remaining.
Flicker, who entered the event ranked No. 2 in the world, competed under the flag of the International Judo Federation, with the organizers claiming that due to security concerns the Israelis can’t have their flag on their judo uniform or ISR (Israel) by their names on the scoreboard and on their backs.
Israel also took part in the event in Abu Dhabi under similar conditions two years ago. This year’s delegation has already surpassed the achievements of the team from 2015, with Gili Cohen taking a bronze medal in the women’s under-52kg competition on Thursday.
The recently retired Yarden Gerbi and Sagi Muki, who will compete on Friday, each won a bronze medal in Abu Dhabi two years ago.
Israel sent 12 athletes in all to the event, which runs until Saturday. The delegation arrived in Abu Dhabi a day later than scheduled due to a misunderstanding with the organizers regarding the location in which it should pick up its visas.
However, despite everything that went on off the mat, Flicker never lost hisfocusonThursday,goingonallthe way to build on his excellent displays throughout2017.
Two months ago, Flicker joined an exclusive list with some of Israel’s greatest ever judokas when he took a bronze medal at the World Judo Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Flicker became the seventh Israeli to scale the podium at the World Championships.Thefirsttodosowas YaelArad(1991–bronze,1993–silver). She was later joined by: Oren Smadja (1995 – silver), Arik Ze’evi (2001 – silver), Alice Schlesinger (2009 – bronze), Yarden Gerbi (2013 – gold, 2014 – silver) and Golan Pollack (2015 – bronze).