The story of Vahid Sarlak: When politics crushes a sport’s competition and one decision turns your life upside down

At the Judo World Championship in Cairo in September 2005, Iranian officials summoned Judoka Vahid Sarlak to deliberately lose his fight against Azerbaijan’s Nicat Shikhalizada. If he had won, Sarlak would have competed against Israel’s Gal Yekutiel, and the Iranian regime does not recognise the existence of the state of Israel. “I remember it to this day. This was incredibly hard for me. I was crying on the judo mat. However, I wasn’t allowed to go onto the mat and fight, as this would have meant my death sentence,” Sarlak recalls.

After this incident, Sarlak clearly expressed his anger to the Iranian officials back in the hotel. Therefore, he was banned by the Iranian regime for two years. Sarlak then participated in the Judo World Championship in Rotterdam in 2009, finishing in fifth place. Shortly after, a similar event happened at the Otto-Grand-Prix in Hamburg. After winning the first round, Sarlak was supposed to compete against an Israeli athlete in the second round.

Vahid Sarlak with members of the Israeli team. (Pic credit: Vahid Sarlak’s Instagram)

“The anger in my body was rising. Anger against yourself, against the regime, everything. This is why I went onto the mat, fought and won. In this moment, I was a world champion for myself personally because this meant a difficult decision for me. Any contact between an Iranian athlete with the Israeli counterpart has been prohibited, even saying a simple “hello”, let alone competing. Any disobedience against this law could lead to a prison or even death sentence in Iran.”

A new beginning in Germany

Sarlak could not return to his home country after that fight. He stayed in Germany claiming asylum. Since 2009, the Judoka hasn’t seen his parents, sister and friends back in Iran and started all over again in a foreign country he didn’t really know. “One day someone throws a bomb into your house, and everything is destroyed. For me, it was exactly like this. I was 28 years old at this point and everything that I had built up in my hometown was gone.”

Vahid Sarlak at an event on human rights. (Pic credit: Vahid Sarlak’s Instagram)

“Honestly speaking from a human point of view, I’m very happy about my decision. At that moment the first thought in my mind was: we are all human beings. It’s destiny, when someone is born in Iran or Israel.” For Sarlak politics is not his problem. It doesn’t matter to us, if there is a French, a Belgian or an Israeli on the other side”, he tells Fritz Neumann from Der Standard.

“Some countries like Iran try to destroy their athletes”, Sarlak emphasizes. “When Iranian athletes enter an international competition, the regime first checks if Israel participates in the competition or not. If yes, Iranian athletes don’t go. For example, there is a Judo grand slam in Georgia next week. Iran won’t take part. Due to this issue, Iran was banned for four years. Yet the regime is scared that such a situation might occur again and that Iran could therefore be banned. This is a disaster for all Iranian athletes!”

Vahid Sarlak competing for Iran. (Pic credit: Vahid Sarlak’s Instagram)

Sarlak is not the only one who has had clashes with the Iranian authorities leading to major consequences. His teammate Saeid Mollaei was ordered to lose the semi-final in order to avoid facing Israeli Sagi Muki at the world championships in Tokyo in 2019. Even Mollai’s parents in Iran were approached by security police forces.

Consequently, Mollaei didn’t return to Iran and later received Mongolian citizenship. Sarlak also mentions the example of the Iranian ringer Navid Afkari, who, despite international protests, was
executed by the regime due to allegations that he had killed a security man during a demonstration in 2020.

Sarlak himself faced repercussions after his “illegal” fight in Hamburg. “The Iranian authorities called me trying to get me back to Iran. I consulted a lawyer in Germany who told me that I would only have the option to remain in Germany. I asked him, ‘What can I do?’

The lawyer told me, ‘You can’t see your family any more until the end of your life. The regime searches you, no matter where you are.’

Sarlak is now a German citizen. “Sometimes when I go to a tournament, I’m asking myself, where I come from. I can’t really say, where I come from. I come from Iran. No, I come from Iran but live in Germany.” The judoka is now based at 1. Judo-Club Mönchengladbach having won almost 80 competitions in the German federal Judo league and the European Cup.

Becoming a coach and training the international refugee team

Currently, the 43- year-old is a Judo coach working for the German federal league. After having participated at the Tokyo Olympics as coach of the Tajik team, he now coaches the international judo refugee team leading them to the Paris Olympics this year. “It is amazing
what the International Judo Federation has done with building up an international refugee team. This means that refugees can continue their dream with the full international support. When I talk about it, I get goosebumps.”

Vahid Sarlak as coach for the refugee team for Paris2024. (Pic credit: Vahid Sarlak’s Instagram)

Through interviews, Sarlak continues to inform people about Iranian athletes and the political situation. “When an Iranian athlete newly arrives in Germany, the door of my club is always open,” he adds. Looking at his home country, Sarlak concludes, “I can say that sport
in Iran is simply dead because the pressure from the Iranian regime is immense. However, the day will come when athletes say, ‘We do sport without politics.’ This day is not so far away.”