Iranian Athlete Sadegh Beit Sayah Was Not Disqualified for Displaying ISIS Flag

The Iranian athlete was disqualified after he received two yellow cards. He did not unfurl the flag of ISIS.

Fact-Check | The flag carried by the Iranian athlete was not that of ISIS.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An image of Iranian Paralympian Sadegh Beit Sayah is being shared on the internet to claim that he was disqualified from the competition after he displayed the flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

What are users saying?: Mr Sinha, an X (formerly Twitter) premium user, shared the image with a caption that said, "He's Iranian Athlete Beit Sayah Sadegh. After winning the gold in #Paralympics2024, he openly displayed the ISIS flag. Disqualified...! Imagine displaying the ISIS flag openly and getting away with a mere disqualification. He should have been treated like a terr0rist..."

The user has been fact-checked several times in the past.

You can find an archive of the post here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

The post had recorded over 2.5 lakh views on the platform. More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.

What are the facts?: While it is true that Sayah was disqualified from the competition, the viral image doesn't show him displaying the ISIS flag.

How did we find that out?: On closely examining the viral image, we found that the flag displayed in it did not resemble the ISIS flag.

• To make it clearer, we compared the viral image to the ISIS flag and came to a conclusion that both of them are different.

A comparison clearly highlights the difference.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons/Screenshot)

News reports on Sayah's disqualification: A report published in news.com.au said that the Iranian athlete was stripped of his gold medal after he displayed a banned flag.

• It mentioned that he received two yellow cards during the event.

• The first yellow card was given after he was seen running a finger across his neck while celebrating.

• The second one was issued after he unfurled the flag of Hazrat Umm al-Banin - a black flag with red writing on it.

• The report said that the flag breached the regulations of the International Paralymic Committee (IPC).

The report was published on 9 September.

(Source: News.com.au/Screenshot)

• According to the official Paralympic website, Sayah was disqualified after being given two yellow cards. He was found to be showing unsporting or improper conduct.

Statement from Iranian national track and field team's head: BBC News published a video on their official X handle, which showed Ali Asghar Hadizadeh talking about Sayah's disqualification.

• Hadizadeh said that when athletes break records, they usually cross their hands in front of their necks. He said that Sayah's movement was differently interpreted.

• The team head further said, "Because of his love and devotion to Ms. M. Al-Banin, Beitsyah suddenly took the flag out of the sports bag and showed the flag, and thus received the second yellow card and was eliminated from the tournament."

What about the flag seen in viral video?: Team WebQoof performed a keyword search on Google and found visuals of the similar flag, which was seen in the viral image.

This was shared in January 2023.

(Source: Shafaqna/Screenshot)

Conclusion: Evidently, the Iranian athlete did not display the ISIS flag as claimed in viral social media posts.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)