TEHRAN – For the first time in eight consecutive appearances, Iran's boxing team will not be able to send a representative to the Paris Olympics after all seven of its members were eliminated in Olympic qualifying in Thailand.
The disappointing result comes just 18 months after Ruhollah Hosseini became president of the Iranian Boxing Federation.
The defeat for Iranian boxers follows a poor showing at the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou in 2022. Following this latest setback, Hosseini apologised for his team's failure, blaming a lack of development of young talent in Iranian boxing and ongoing refereeing issues.
That explanation is met with some skepticism: Just 13 months before Hosseini took the helm of the federation, Iran won its first world boxing medal and secured two spots for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
More than 600 boxers from around the world competed in the Olympic qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand, for a limited number of spots at the Paris 2024 Games. Iran, led by Cuban coach Juan Bautista Fontanils, featured Mehdi Parvizi, Daniel Shahbakhsh, Ali Habibinezhad, Kasra Tahmasvi, Meisam Ghashragi, Ali Fathi and Ruzbeh Safdari.
Despite their hard work, the team ultimately missed out on qualifying for the Olympics, and while Hosseini faced criticism for his work in his short tenure, some experts believe he made the right decision by hiring a well-known coach like Fontanils.
Former national team coach Akbar Ahadi characterized the team's failure as a setback and urged the federation to take immediate action to prepare for future tournaments.
“We have been participating in the Olympics for more than 40 years, and this absence is a failure,” Ahadi said. “This result has nothing to do with President Hosseini's five-six months in office, but goes back to the previous years when there was no proper support system. The president did his best during this time and organized some good international tournaments for the national team. He also brought one of the best coaches in the world to Iran. Fontanils has only been with the national team for three-four months, but there is no coach in the world who can perform miracles in such a short time.”
Ahadi also addressed the decision to replace experienced boxers with younger competitors as the Olympics approached, saying it was important to give opportunities to promising boxers but not at the expense of more experienced fighters who have proven their worth.
The Iranian boxing team's failure to qualify for the Paris Olympics should be a wake-up call for the federation: addressing the sport's underlying issues, implementing sustainable youth development programs and providing proper support to the national team will be crucial to Iran's future success at international competitions.
