Iranian judoka Saeid Mollaei is going to fight for Mongolia at the Masters in Qingdao. The President of Mongolia, who is the former Judo Association President, authorized that a passport be provided to the 2018 World Champion who fled from Iran. Previously,  Saeid Mollaei was promised German citizenship. In Qingdao, Saeid Mollaei was supposed to fight under the International Refugee Team. However, on the website of the IJF he is clearly in the team of Mongolia,  confirming the transfer of the year.

Mollaei who is still ranked World Number three, should normally lose his points having switched to another country. In the ranking he is linked to IRT, the international Refugee Team. In his category U81kg the first Mongolian fighter is O.Uuganbaatar in 17th place and N.Dagvasuren is ranked 27th. It is a remarkable move made possible by the powers of the Mongolian President Battulga himself.

Mongolia have lost a few athletes to Azerbaijan and was about to lose three Mongolian athletes including N.Dagvasuren to the UAE in 2018, but that transfer was cancelled. Mongolia have won consecutive Olympic medals since 2004 and with a judoka as its president, that ambition can become only stronger. With Mollaei, Mongolia has a serious ace to continue the streak.