Iran & the World: Ali Madani Iranian tennis Mansour Bahrami sports tennis
by Pars Arts
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The Iranian Revolution and Tennis: Mansour Bahrami & Ali Madani
Mansour Bahrami. (Julian Finney / Getty Images)
Three decades ago, their fates in sports and in life were determined by a tennis match. Bahrami and Madani, who are now 53, were swept up in the political turmoil of the Islamic revolution. Almost overnight, tennis was forbidden, as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini viewed the game as pro-American, capitalist and decadent. To Bahrami, Madani and the handful of other fledgling world-class players, the edict was a crushing blow.
With tournaments in Iran canceled and foreign travel out of the question, the players pleaded with the minister of sport for the opportunity to compete. The government finally relented, and a tournament was organized for the last week in July 1980. It was called the Revolutionary Cup, and the first prize was a round-trip ticket to Athens.
- “Islamic Republic Crushed the Dreams of Iran’s Top Tennis Players” – NYT
Mansour and Ali Madani were once good friends and I believe they still are.
The Iranian revolution did not crush anything! Mansour reached is potential in France and Ali decided to stay in Iran!
Of course the Iranian revolution was a shi*ty thing but so was the Shaa’s dictatorship! Democracy is the ticket but eastern societies have to learn to be more open to women and human rights/education and many other factors which bogs them down.
Sergio