Akbar Khazaei, the first and only Iranian international professional bodybuilding judge, has blamed “US obstructionism” for his absence at the 2022 Las Vegas Mr. Olympia contest.
“I had been invited to judge the competitions. But the United States refused to grant me a visa, and this obstructionism prevented me from being present at the contest,” Khazaei told IRNA.
He was referring to the move by the US Embassy in Oman to reject his visa application for the 2022 Mr. Olympia contest held by the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB PRO LEAGUE) in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 15–18 that year.
Khazaei also spoke about his intention to judge several professional bodybuilding competitions in 2023, including two in the United States, but he said he is still undecided because of a probable rejection of his visa application for the second time by the US government.
“I am still reluctant to take required measures for fear that the US government may deny me a visa again”, he said, adding that he will definitely take the measures if he gets assured that Washington will grant him a visa.
Akbar Khazaei obtained a bodybuilding judgment certificate from Iranian Bodybuilding Federation in 2006. A year later, he received the IFBB Judgment Permission and the Asian Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation (ABBF) referee book from this Confederation.
In 2015, Akbar Khazaei was appointed as the international judge certified by IFBB. Later, in 2022, he succeeded to acquire a professional judgment certificate from IFBB PRO. Since entering the professional judgment world, he has been chosen as a judge in such several contests as Tunisia Mr. Olympia, Iraq Muscle Show, Pakistan Mr. Olympia, Libya Ashoor Classic, and so on.