Taekwondo: Josef Alami was suspended from the national taekwondo team after an interview with SVT – appeals to the National Sports Board

Taekwondo star Josef Alami, 21, saw the Swedish federation after his SM gold last month.

As a result, he was informed last week by the Swedish Taekwondo Union that he is suspended from the Swedish national team for the next year.

Haven’t been allowed to speak

The message came like a bolt from the blue.

– They have done this without referral. I haven’t had a chance to comment. I have not even found out that there is an investigation going on and I have never been warned before. Nothing! It seems to come from space, says Alami to SVT Sport.

In the Swedish Sports Confederation’s statutes, it is clearly stated that an athlete must have a chance to express himself before a decision on punishment is made.

“Lacks of a reasonable basis”

Josef Alami has now appealed the decision both to STU and to the National Sports Council (Rin).

“This unexpected suspension represents a significant departure from the legal principle of fair treatment and is a serious interference with my rights as an elite athlete,” he writes in his appeal, and continues:

“The decision on my suspension from the national team is deeply unfair and lacks a reasonable basis”.

Miss both EC and WC

But even if Rin were to overturn Alami’s suspension, he will not be allowed to participate in the EC next month. The time for reporting there expired two days after STU announced its suspension.

– And the suspension also means that I cannot qualify for the WC, he says to SVT Sport.

The association apologizes

During Tuesday evening, a communiqué came from the union in which they apologized for having “expressed themselves carelessly”. However, they do not want to present the evidence behind the reason for the suspension of Alami:

“There were different kinds of information and documents and with regard to the people involved, it is not information we share. “, they write.

SVT has applied for STU.