After being appointed, during a press conference, Miresmaeili stated that if Mohsen Rezaee is elected as president, there would be no more place for Iranian sports officials who have been appointed for political purposes, as opposed to their knowledge and capabilities.
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In the summer of 2009, prior to the controversial Iranian presidential elections, Arash Miresmaeili chose to support the candidacy of Mohsen Rezaee, one of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rivals.
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Slated to fight Israeli competitor Ehud Vaks in the first round, he was disqualified from competing because he was above the allowable weight limit for his class.
Iran also has an informal Olympic boycott against participating against Israel, and Iranian athletes typically bow out or claim injuries when pitted against Israelis (see Arash Miresmaeili).
There was controversy in the men's competition, when Iranian competitor and two-times world champion Arash Miresmaeili weighed in overweight and was disqualified before a match in which he would have faced Israeli judoka Ehud Vaks.
Arash | Arash Miresmaeili | Arash Usmanee | Arash T. Riahi | Arash (singer) | Arash Hejazi |