Iranian judo star Saeid Mollaei, who claimed he was ordered to deliberately lose a world championship fight, could compete under a refugee flag at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, officials said Sunday.
International Judo Federation (IJF) president Marius Vizer has thrown his support behind former world champion Mollaei, who reportedly complained he had been instructed by Iranian authorities to throw a match in Tokyo last week to avoid facing Israeli Sagi Muki.
"It is our mission to protect our athletes -- that's clear," Vizer told AFP.
"We will do our best that he will compete in the Olympic Games. Later we will see in which team -- there are different options, but one of them will be applied for the Olympics."
The IJF will issue a statement on Monday, Vizer confirmed, but insisted: "First of all we will do everything to support the athlete so he can continue his career and participate in the Olympic Games."
"It's a special situation. We have to live with that and act accordingly."
Iran's Fars news agency accused Mollaei of pre-planning his defection, quoting Iran's judo head coach Majed Zarian as saying: "Everything was set in advance -- someone in Iran must have helped him."