Bulgaria seeks to naturalize another Iranian taekwondo talent

SOFIA — Bulgaria has once again turned to Iran to strengthen its high-performance taekwondo program. Slavcho “Slavi” Binev, president of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation and member of the World Taekwondo Council, confirmed that the country was in the process of naturalizing another elite Iranian competitor, but warned that the plan had been slowed down by administrative delays in issuing the passport.

The statement came on the program “Gostat na Sportal.bg,” hosted by Daniel Lyubomirov, where Binev chose to bring the topic into the public eye with a phrase that set the tone for the entire interview: “We depend on the state.” As he explained, the athlete had been training with the national team for some time, but “all kinds of maneuvers were made” to delay the document that would finally authorize him.

A name without a last name, a record with Olympic weight

Sportal.bg did not publish the athlete’s last name, category, or competitive history. And Binev, on camera, also referred to him only as “Umit.” That detail was not insignificant: at the elite level, a delayed passport could disrupt schedules, slow down registrations, and rearrange cycle decisions.

Binev said that the process had to go through the Ministry of the Interior (MVR), DANS, and commissions, but insisted that, with coordination, it could be resolved “in minutes, not months.” And he made the purpose of his appearance clear: “I hope this helps.”

“He’s not coming to participate”

The interview took a step up when Binev directly compared Umit’s potential to the most emblematic case in recent Bulgarian taekwondo: Kimia Alizadeh, born in Iran and Olympic bronze medalist for Bulgaria in Paris 2024.

“He has a bigger future… he’s one of the best… he can compete for two Olympic cycles… he’s not going to the Games just to be there, he’s going for the title,” said Binev.

By journalistic standards, these statements are presented as the leader’s evaluation (not as independent verification), but they show the size of the political-sporting gamble.

Kimia Alizadeh: from Iran to the refugee team, and from there to Bulgaria

The mirror that Bulgaria had already shown to the world was Kimia Alizadeh. After leaving Iran, she competed in Tokyo 2020 as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team and in April 2024 she received Bulgarian citizenship, a step that formalized her sporting representation.

Shortly thereafter, she won the European title in Belgrade in 2024 in her first major appearance under the Bulgarian flag, according to Bulgarian National Radio.

The interview also served as a medical update. Binev reported that Alizadeh was “at the end of her recovery, that everything was going according to plan, and that she was already cycling, with a return to training projected “in a month,” following hip surgery and a tendon injury to her inner thigh, which had caused her to miss the World Championships in Wuxi, China, at the end of October.

Slavcho “Slavi” Binev did not speak only as a local president, as he is also Vice President of the European Taekwondo Union (ETU) and a member of the World Taekwondo (WT) Council, a position of power that explains why his request has a major political impact and not just a sporting one.

Iranian background: Farzad Zolghadri, the technical bridge

Before Alizadeh, Bulgaria had already built bridges with Iran through Farzad Zolghadri, an Iranian taekwondo athlete who moved to Bulgaria in 2020 to pursue his Olympic dream and eventually became Bulgaria’s national coach, strengthening a technical link that helped explain why the country had become an attractive destination for Iranian talent.

MAS: Media About Sport.
TKD: Taekwondo.
MASTKD: Worldwide Leader on Taekwondo Information.

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