A chess grandmaster from FC Bayern caused an anti-Semitic scandal.
Seyyed Mohammad Amin Tabatabaei, who has been playing for Munich in the Bundesliga since October, refused to play against an Israeli at the Sunway International Chess Festival in Barcelona.
Actually, the 21-year-old Iranian, who started in Barcelona not for Bayern but for his country, should have played against Netanel Levi from Israel in the first round. But Tabatabaei didn’t compete, his opponent from Israel won without a fight.
Shortly thereafter, Paul Meyer-Dunker, President of the Berlin Chess Federation, spoke out indignantly and demanded consequences from the World Chess Federation FIDE.
“How much longer are you going to tolerate this? Will this hatred of our Israeli colleagues and the oppression of our Iranian colleagues ever have any consequences for the Chess Federation of Iran?” he asked via Twitter.
The scandal triggered by Tabatabaei is part of a series of numerous similar actions. Since the regime in Iran does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, athletes from their country are prohibited from competing against Israeli actors.
In recent years, there have been repeated incidents, especially in wrestling and judo.
Iranian athletes who defy the ban face penalties – which Tabatabaei has already felt: As the Welt reported, he played against an Israeli in a tournament three years ago. Shortly thereafter, the Iranian Ministry of Sports banned him from participating in the Rapid and Blitz World Championships.
This is probably one of the reasons why former top player Susan Polgár, among others, suspected that Tabatabaei had no choice but to give up the game.
“Very unfortunate! I’m so sorry for Amin Tabatabaei,” the 53-year-old wrote on Twitter and also addressed the world association: “How can FIDE help these players?”
FC Bayern has not yet commented on the incident.
https://www.archysport.com/2022/12/bayern-star-causes-chess-scandal/