Iran handed a four-year judo ban after ordering Saeid Mollaei withdrawal

Saeid Mollaei (right) eventaully lost in the semi-finals of the men's 81kg event at the 2019 World Championships

Iran has been banned by the International Judo Federation (IJF) for four years after it ordered Saeid Mollaei to pull out of the World Championships in Japan in 2019.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport previously lifted an indefinite ban.

Mollaei ignored calls to withdraw from a match to avoid the prospect of facing Sagi Muki of Israel, a country Iranian athletes are banned from facing.

The IJF said the ban is "proportionate to the extremely severe offenses".

The suspension has been backdated to September 2019 and will run until 2023.

The IJF had initially suspended Iran in 2019, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) said the ruling had "no legal basis" and referred the case back to the IJF disciplinary commission.

In March, Cas added that it found the Islamic Republic of Iran Judo Federation (IRIJF) to have "committed severe violations" of IJF rules.

The IJF's disciplinary commission has since found the actions of Iran constituted "repeated and very severe breaches of the IJF statutes and the fundamental principles of Olympism."

In a statement, judo's world governing body said it "continues to defend the fundamental human values and rights of all its members, with a special emphasis on the rights of athletes and reiterates its commitment to fight against any form of discrimination in the sport".

Mollaei has not returned to Iran since the World Championships in Japan, saying he feared for the safety of himself and his family if he did so.

After spending time in Germany, he now represents Mongolia. In February, he competed in an event in Israel.