Kicking through adversity
Afghan refugee coach kindles taekwondo team’s competitive fire
Editor’s note: This news column showcases stories from around the world that bring a touch of positivity to the fight against the deadly coronavirus.
TEHERAN, Iran— A group of Afghan taekwondo practitioners have been training every Friday in a forest park in north Teheran throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping fit while dreaming of participating in international competitions with their own team.
Their coach, Mohammad Homayoun Rezaei, arrived in Iran as a refugee 35 years ago when he was 10 years old. Little by little, Rezaei learned taekwondo in Baqershahr, a suburb some 20 kilometers south of Iran’s capital, until he became a coach.
Today, he talks proudly about his trainees, his taekwondo club in Baqershahr, and the Selected Afghan Refugees Team he leads.
Just like their coach, all the athletes have lived in Iran as refugees since they were children.
“Rohullah Nikpai was one of my trainees,” Rezaei said of the athlete he is especially proud of, the only medal winner Afghanistan has had in the Olympic Games.
Nikpai won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and then got another bronze medal in London in 2012.
“When my trainee got a place in the Olympics, I called him and told him I would not congratulate him until after he won an Olympic medal.
And it really happened!” Rezaei joyfully recalled.
There are 30 to 35 taekwondo fighters being trained in Taleghani Forest Park, the coach said, and they come from all across the greater Teheran area, as well as some neighboring provinces such as Qom, Semnan and Alborz.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, they would train regularly at the club in Baqershahr.
After the sports complex shut down, they can only train outdoors once a week for a few hours just to stay in shape.
Most are blue- collar workers. Rezaei himself works as a contractor in the shoe industry, sewing shoe layers for Iran-based factories and companies.
The pandemic has created new difficulties for both taekwondo practice and work-life balance.
“We are receiving less orders, especially in this two-week lockdown we just had. If we were doing maybe 500 pieces a day, now it is 200,” the coach said.
Iran, one of the countries worst hit by COVID-19 in the Middle East, has logged more than 1.12 million infections so far.
Sanctions-related hardships in Iran must also be taken into account. Since these were reimposed in 2018, everything has become more expensive, even goods produced inside Iran, Rezaei said.
After 35 years living in Iran among Iranians, the taekwondo coach emphasized that sanctions are taking a toll on everyone.
The United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018, and unilaterally reimposed sanctions on the country.
Iran’s inflation rate soared to 31.2 and 41 percent in 2018 and 2019 respectively, according to statistics published by the International Monetary Fund on its official website.
Asked about his dreams for the future, Rezaei hopes Iran will send a team made up of refugees and immigrants to international competitions.
Iran is host to one of the largest urban refugee populations worldwide, with approximately 3 million Afghans living in the country, according to the UN Refugee Agency’s website.