This report exposes the pathetic charade gone through at the time by the International Judo Federation and the International Olympic Commitee:
Tehran - Iran has given judo world champion Arash Miresmaeili a $125,000 reward, saying he sacrificed a gold medal at the Athens Olympics by refusing to fight Israel's Udi Vaks, a sports official in Tehran said Tuesday.
Iranian state television showed Miresmaeili at an award ceremony receiving the same sum as Iranian Hossein Rezazadeh, who took the super-heavyweight weight lifting gold at the second Olympics in succession."He would definitely have won a gold medal if he had taken part," said the sports official, who declined to be named.
"By refusing to fight, Miresmaeili followed the policies of the country," the official added.