Tel Aviv Olympic Bid Prospects Put Foes In Bind

Competing against Israel or Israeli athletes is taboo, lest doing so grant legitimacy to the Jewish State.

Algiers, September 14 – Sports officials in Arab and Muslim countries hostile to Israel voiced consternation today at the possibility that the International Olympic Committee might designate Tel Aviv as the venue for the 2028 Summer Games.

IOC sources told reporters off the record yesterday that the Committee had narrowed its choices for the games down to five candidate metropolitan areas, and that Tel Aviv was still in the running. The news ratcheted up the tension in multiple Arab capitals, where competing against Israel or Israeli athletes is taboo, lest doing so grant legitimacy to the Jewish State – and therefore the prospect of having to decide between granting that legitimacy by attending the games in Tel Aviv and forcing athletes to stay home and sacrifice athletic prestige has officials in those countries on edge.

Whereas in the past the Islamic bloc of countries have successfully blocked any efforts to allow Israel into consideration, political divisions have riven the erstwhile solidarity with Palestinians that was once thought sacrosanct. Turkey and others have broken from the traditional alignment, and, with the tacit support of many Western countries, have made an Israeli venue possible where it was once considered anathema.

Algerian Minister of Sport and Culture Fermad Dedbahdi admitted he already suffered sleepless nights over the issue. “It’s a terrible thing to contemplate,” he confessed. “It’s bad enough to have to contrive excuses for our athletes to withdraw from specific events rather than face Israelis, but at least under most circumstances we have a chance of getting through the games without having to make such a choice. But if the IOC selects Tel Aviv, it’s not going to go down well internationally to have dozens of Olympic teams from the Muslim world suddenly developing the collective flu. Such excuses don’t hold so much water anymore.”

Indeed, in this year’s Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, multiple instances occurred in which Muslim countries’ athletes forfeited matches when the opponent was Israel, and IOC officials have taken an increasingly skeptical and unfavorable view of those incidents and the pretexts for them. Dedbahdi predicted that by the time the 2028 Olympics take place, such excuses will no longer be tolerated, and the offending countries will incur various sanctions.

Iran’s Minister of Sport expressed similar apprehensiveness. “We have more than the simple binary choice between participating and not, but even the other alternatives are not very palatable,” lamented Gahd Dammidd. “While the Islamic Republic of Iran sacrifices prestige by not sending a delegation to the Zionist Entity, our athletes could register as representatives of other countries that are participating, so they don’t lose out on a chance to compete. But of course that could easily backfire, since everyone will see our athletes in Tel Aviv, and they’ll have to stand in acknowledgement of the Zionist anthem, which is unacceptable. It’s a real dilemma.”

Israeli officials declined to comment. “We’re actually more curious about Gaza in 2032,” said one.