Iranian judo player scared to return home because of his refusal to withdraw from world championships in Japan

Iranian Judo player Saeed Melay has said he fears for his family and for himself after ignoring the instructions of the Iranian authorities to withdraw from the World Judo Championships in Japan.

Melay confirmed that he had been instructed to withdraw from the match against Russian Olympic champion Hassan Khalmourziav, in order to avoid a possible confrontation with Israeli Sagi Moke in the next rounds of the tournament.

Iranian athletes are not allowed to play any sport against Israelis.

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"I could have won a championship," he said. "I trained very well, but the National Olympic Committee of Iran and the Minister of Sports have notified me not to participate and that the law must be respected."

"I am a wrestler, I want to fight as much as I can, I live in a country that I am not allowed to do, we have no choice, all athletes must comply."

"Even though the authorities in my country tell me that I can go home without any problem, I'm scared, I'm afraid of what could happen to my family and myself."

Melay lost in the semi-finals of the 81kg men's tournament of the Belgian Mathias Kass and left the Japanese championship to travel to Germany.

The Israeli beat his Belgian counterpart and then won the gold medal.

Earlier this year, the Iranian National Olympic Committee had announced that it would abide by the Olympic Charter and the rules of the International Judo Federation, allowing Iranian athletes to play against their Israeli counterparts.

Following last week's events, Maurice Pfizer, president of the International Judo Federation, said that Melay could participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic tournament regardless of Iran.

"In principle, we will do everything in our power to support the athlete.He can continue to participate in the Olympics," Pfizer told AFP.

"We will do our best to be able to participate in the Olympics, and later we will see which team will be selected, there are different options, one of which will be applied to the Olympics."

"Having heard the news, the IOC has asked for a full report from the International Judo Federation, based on which we will assess the situation," said the IOC spokesperson at the BBC.