Tal Flicker stood on the podium to receive his gold medal in the men’s under-145 pound category on Thursday, the first day of the Grand Slam tournament in the United Arab Emirates, a country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
WATCH-DISGRACEFUL.
ISRAELI Tal Flicker presented with his gold medal at #JudoAbuDhabi2017 without Israeli anthem or flag. Nice to see Tal singing something and I’m guessing it’s the #Hatikvah@Ostrov_A pic.twitter.com/RzwGdn0Bh8— SussexFriendsIsrael (@SussexFriends) October 26, 2017
He wore the uniform of the International Judo Federation and received his medal under an IJF flag while the anthem of the federation was played. But video clips showed Flicker singing what appears to be the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
Israeli Judoka Gili Cohen presented with her bronze medal at #JudoAbuDhabi2017 but had to compete under @intjudofed flag because hosts wouldn’t allow any mention of the Jewish state! Mazeltov Gili.@Ostrov_A pic.twitter.com/1mee33j5sB
— SussexFriendsIsrael (@SussexFriends) October 26, 2017
On Wednesday, the International Judo Federation ordered the UAE to treat Israeli athletes equally during the tournament.
Prior to leaving for Abu Dhabi, Flicker posted a photo of himself on Facebook wearing an Israeli uniform.
“We’ll do anything to get to Abu Dhabi and end up on the podium,” he wrote. “Everyone in the world knows where we are from and which country we represent. I am the most proud to be Israeli.”
