MOLLAEI Saeid

General
SWITCH TO MONGOLIA
After the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, where he had competed for the Islamic Republic of Iran, he was granted refugee status in Germany having fled to Berlin. He said he was pressured by Iranian sporting authorities to lose his world championship semifinal bout to avoid the possibility of facing Israel's Sagi Muki in the final. Later in 2019 he took part in the Osaka Grand Slam competition as a member of the International Judo Federation's [IJF] refugee team, and in March 2020 he was cleared by the International Olympic Committee [IOC] to compete for Mongolia. "I want to compete wherever I can. I set a goal of winning the title at the [2020] Olympic Games. This may be very difficult, but this is my dream. I will do everything in my power to bring my family the joy of an Olympic medal." (olympic.org, 03 Mar 2020; ifr.org, 02 Nov 2019; judoinside.com, 01 Dec 2019; dw.com, 13 Sep 2019; edition.cnn.com, 02 Sep 2019; insidethegames.biz, 02 Dec 2019, 03 Mar 2020)

TV SERIES
In 2021 it was announced that he would feature in a scripted television series based on his and Israeli judoka Sagi Muki's lives, with the International Judo Federation [IJF] involved in the production of the series. At the 2019 World Championships, in which he competed for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mollaei said Iranian sporting authorities pressured him to lose his semifinal bout to avoid the possibility of facing Muki in the final. In March 2021 the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] found that the Iran Judo Federation breached the Olympic Charter and committed "severe violations of the International Judo Federation rules". "Sagi is my friend. We may fight on the tatami, but before the tatami and away from the tatami, we will always be friends. I hope that the next time we face off against each other will be in the Olympic finals.'' (deadline.com, 01 Mar 2021; al-monitor.com, 22 Feb 2021; tas-cas.org, 01 Mar 2021; insidethegames.biz, 18 Mar 2021)