Leader lauds athletes as Iran’s goodwill ambassadors

Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday November 14 granted audience to Iranian athletes who participated in 2018 Asian Paralympics in Indonesia, with several of them winning colourful, gold, silver and bronze medals.

The Leader lauded their scintillating performance, and in view of their observance of Islamic ethics in the international sports arena, called them cultural ambassadors of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution expressed gratitude to God the Almighty, saluted the Prophet and his blessed progeny, and prayed for hastening of the reappearance of the Lord of the Age, Imam Mahdi (AS), for end of oppression and corruption on Earth and establishment of the global government of peace, prosperity, and justice.

He told the gathering of athletes: “Sports are a value both at an individual level and at the national level. A country which enjoys public sports and healthy competition has a value-added compared to other countries. Today, this is well-established in the world. Everyone knows and understands the value of this. That is why they spend generously on sports championships. They work hard on sports and they even formulate their policies in this direction. Despite the fact that they chant the slogan of not making sports political and not letting politics enter into sports and other such slogans, they sometimes back sports with politics.

“Why do they do so? Because they want to bring their country honor with the help of sports. Sports are like this. Therefore, you who are busy striving in this arena – the arena of sports – should really feel and believe that you are carrying out a valuable spiritual obligation. If your intention is to serve the country and the Islamic Republic, this will definitely be a divine and spiritual deed, one for which you will be rewarded. This is like an act of worship. In fact, it is turned into an act of worship. Well, this is the essence of the issue about sports.

“Well, sports championships reflect self-confidence, determination and willpower. The ability of athletes to aim for the top and become champions is a sign of their firm determination and willpower.

“In the case of those individuals who are disabled, this determination is two times as much and sometimes, even more. Compare a person who does not have a physical condition and who becomes a champion in such and such a sport or wins a high ranking, with a person who is physically disabled and who earns the same ranking. This shows that the determination of the disabled athlete is even firmer.”

Ayatollah Khamenei continued his speech by telling the disabled athletes: “Despite your physical condition, you have managed to shine brightly in the arena of sports. This is very valuable. So, when those who have a physical condition – the disabled war veterans and other people with physical conditions – do sports and become champions, this is two or several times more valuable than the ones who do not have a physical condition. This shows your firm determination. When you realized that you have a physical condition – in your legs, your hands and every other part of your body – you could have stepped aside from sports championships with that excuse, but you did not do so. Instead, you entered the arena, worked hard, exercised, pushed yourselves and showed firm determination to reach the peak of this sports arena. Sports championships are thus the mountain summit. Because of you, everyone looks at the summit and moves towards it by learning from you. Therefore, your work is more valuable than that of other champions who do not suffer from a physical condition. This is the first point.

“Another important point that I witnessed in you – both this time and on previous times, while watching your matches on TV whenever I could – is that you expressed gratitude to God Almighty after every victory. Some of you even prostrate yourselves on the field as a way of thanksgiving to God the Unseen but Omnipresent. This means that you think your victories are because of your faith and confidence in God and you consider this blessing as a God-given gift. This is very valuable and in contrast to those arrogant athletes who think their success stems from their own efforts and that they ignore divine kindness and attention.

“With your attention to God, with your supplications and prostrations and with your prayers, you showed that you are not negligent and you are cognizant of the fact that your glories are a gift from Allah the Exalted. This is an important stage in thanking God. By Allah’s favor, this will help you make more achievements and increase your capabilities. God says in the holy Qur’an that if you thank Him He will increase His blessings upon you. This move of yours – which shows your knowledge about divine blessings – is an important phase of thanking God.”

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution said in his speech: “Another point which was very outstanding to me was the self-confidence that you showed in defending your principles. One example is that raising the flag was done by female athletes clad chador. This is very valuable. I do not know if the lady who was wearing chador and raising the flag during the opening and closing ceremonies knew how valuable her job was and how great that movement was! This means that you have singlehandedly stood up against increasing decadence and corruption in the world. This is what it means. It means that you have stood up against the invasion of policies which are being promoted by the Zionists and morality-destroying companies – policies which drag men and women towards moral corruption.

“You are practically defending your hijab, your chador, your religion and your Islamic teachings in an international arena and you are worried about what others say. This requires a great deal of bravery and guts. There are many individuals who cannot deal with the pressure. I have seen some people who did not have the capability to resist. Such people give up and retreat, but you have stood firm. This is very valuable. You held public prayers and participated in Friday prayers. This means that you defended your religion, your religious teachings, your national values, your national garment – chador is our national garment – and your hijab and modesty. This was very valuable to me.

“I sincerely and deeply thank all of you. I thank the officials in charge of this sports group and the ladies who observed this. This was an exhibition of cultural power. This was a sign of cultural power. It was a sign of cultural independence and it was a sign of firm determination. Today’s wars in the world are wars of willpower. Any side which shows firmer determination and more stability will win the arena. You showed that you have the capability and power to do so.

“A fundamental point which exists about sports championships related to the disabled and the handicapped is that it shows the utilization of hidden capacities existing in a human being. One of our grave problems today is that we have many capacities which are not put to proper use.”

Ayatollah Khamenei continued: “We have geographical and cultural capacities and capacities related to human and natural resources. We have financial capacities, international interaction and centrality. We have all kinds of capacities, but many of them are unfortunately not utilized properly. If they are utilized, the existing economic problems of the country will be resolved to a great extent. This is one of the issues which should receive attention.

“Human beings have several capacities. Such capacities are ignored. When someone looks at a brother and sister who is disabled and who has a physical condition, they think that they do not have many ordinary capabilities, but they had the important capacity to become champions. You became champions and you won gold and silver medals. You won medals. This capacity to become a champion might exist in many others, but it is not utilized. You, however, used this capacity. This is very important.

“Your athleticism and your championships shows the possibility of using the hidden capacities in humans. You taught a lesson to others and you became their teachers. All of us should really learn. People at different ages – particularly youth – should learn from you. They should know that in their bodies, willpower and soul, there are capacities which can be utilized and implemented for the progress of the country, for construction, for the good of oneself and for worldly and otherworldly benefits. This is another point which is very important in my opinion. You have become a paragon of utilizing capacities.

“One of you gentlemen – of course, I do not know you in person – has won six gold medals: in swimming apparently [the Leader refers to Shahin Izadyar and says, “Is it you? Masha’Allah!”]. This is very important: six medals. He has won six gold medals in a sport which is his specialty. This is very valuable. This shows the existence of an astonishing capacity. Perhaps, this gentlemen himself did not know for a long time that such a capacity existed in him, but he entered the arena, took action, showed determination, made a decision and reached the point of winning six gold medals.”

The Leader said towards the end of his speech: “The last point is that your influence in motivating the masses of the people is more than others. I have always said that sports championships are like a summit which should exist in the country so that everyone else can do sports. This is because everyone should do sports. Both youth and the elderly should do sports. Youth do sports in one way and the elderly – people like us – do sports in another way. Everyone should do sports. Who motivates people to do sports? Those who are at the summit- it is such people who motivate others. The motivation that you give is two times more than the motivation that others give. This is because you managed to win glories despite your physical condition.

“In any case, I thank you for your efforts. Also, I am very grateful to the officials in charge. I am grateful to the officials in charge of sports. I hope that you will always be successful and preserve this spiritual morale and this spirit of attention and firm determination, God willing. I hope that you will improve on a daily basis.

As for the requests that this dear brother of ours, who is a disabled war veteran and who is a former prisoner of war put in – both a disabled war veteran and a former prisoner of war – Mr. Minister is present here. You should pursue the parts which are related to the administration. Their request is a legitimate and correct one. You should grant their request and you should not pass them on to other officials.”

AS/EA