BEIJING - Iran's wheelchair basketball team forfeited its game against the United States and withdrew from the Paralympics on Saturday, avoiding a possible match against Israel.
Iranian officials said the forfeit was prompted by a change in scheduling and denied the move was politically motivated. Iran and the United States have no diplomatic relations and the U.S. government has led efforts to persuade Iran to dismantle its nuclear enrichment program.
The International Paralympic Committee said Iran withdrew because the team was unhappy about "the draw proposed for the crossover round and subsequent schedule."
The winner of the U.S.-Iran match would have gone on to meet the winner of Israel-Canada. Iran does not recognize Israel and bans any official contact with the Jewish state. Canada eventually beat Israel.
The U.S.-Iran quarter-final was originally scheduled to be played at 11:15 a.m., following the first quarter-final game between Canada and Israel at 9 a.m. But the starting times were switched, with no official announcement why the change was made.
"Each match should be done one after another," Iran deputy chef de mission Iran Doust said. "But unfortunately, concerning our match they didn't observe the order and that's the reason (for pulling out)."
The game was to have aired live on Iranian television.
The U.S. team received notice of the time change about 24 hours before the match, said Jeannine Hansen, a spokeswoman for the American delegation. Teams were told before the Paralympics that competition times could change for television broadcasts or other reasons, she said.
"We agreed to the time change for the game with Iran, but we weren't given a specific reason," Hansen said.
The statement by the International Paralympic Committee said the IPC and the International Wheelchair Basketball Association "regret this decision taken by Iran and the disruption caused to the tournament."
The statement did not mention any possible penalties for Iran. The IPC could not be reached for further comment.
The U.S. advanced into the semifinals with an automatic 20-0 win over Iran. The Americans will meet Canada, which beat Israel 55-47.
There had been other recent examples of Iran representatives pulling out of Olympic events involving Israel.
At the Beijing Olympics last month, Iranian swimmer Mohammad Alirezaei withdrew from a 100-metre breaststroke heat that included an Israeli competitor, citing illness. The International Olympic Committee said no violation had been found.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Iran's judo world champion and gold-medal favourite Arash Miresmaeili did not compete against an Israeli opponent, publicly stating it was for political reasons. Iranian government officials were quoted in state media congratulating him for doing so.
