Kuwaiti Fencer Pulls Out of World Fencing Championship After Being Matched Against Israeli Athlete

Shiryn Ghermezian

An aerial view shows Kuwait City, Kuwait, March 16, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Stephanie McGehee.

A Kuwaiti athlete announced his withdrawal from the 2023 Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, after being selected in a lottery to go head-to-head against a fencer from Israel.

Ahmed Awad said Monday on Twitter that he made the decision after he was pitted against “a player from the occupying Zionist entity, refusing to recognize the occupying Zionist entity and in solidarity with the brotherly state of Palestine.” He added “as Kuwaitis, we are always and forever with the Palestinian cause.”

Last year, Kuwaiti fencer Mohammed al-Fadli pulled out of the of the World Fencing Championships in the United Arab Emirates for refusing to face an Israeli athlete in the group stage of the competition. He did the same in 2019 in an international competition in Amsterdam after he was also set to go up against an Israeli opponent.

Other Kuwaiti athletes who have withdrawn from competitions against Israelis include 14-year-old tennis player Mohammed Al-Awadi and motosurf racer Abdul Razzaq Al-Baghli, both in 2022, and jujitsu champion Abdullah Al Anjari in 2019. Kuwaiti inventor and engineer Janan Al-Shehab also withdrew her participation from Expo 2020 Dubai after a post published on the event’s Instagram Story featured Israel’s pavilion in the exhibition with the phrase “Let’s celebrate with Israel.”

Under Kuwaiti law, locals can face penalties ranging from imprisonment to death for attempting to normalize relations with Israel, the Palestinian-run Shehab News Agency reported. Kuwaitis and companies in the country also cannot sign any agreements with organizations or people in Israel and cannot engage in any financial or commercial gains with people who have an interest in Israel, the Jerusalem Post explained. It is additionally illegal to import, exchange or own any Israeli products or goods that include any Israeli material.

The Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, runs until April 9.