At Yahoo! Sports, Dan Wetzel calls on the IOC to expel Iran from the Olympic Games: No place for hatred. (Hat tip: Cress.)

ATHENS, Greece — Arash Miresmaeili of Iran made his statement Sunday when he refused to compete in an opening-round Judo match here against Ehud Vaks of Israel due to what can only be called religious bigotry cloaked by international politics.

Iran’s Olympic delegation made its statement when it supported this hatred.

And now the International Olympic Committee, backed by the civilized world, should make its statement loud and clear: Toss Iran out of the Athens Games.

Immediately.

Disqualify the entire Iranian delegation, send them home and hold them up to international scrutiny and ridicule. Anything less is to look away, to tacitly approve, to take the conciliatory path, to allow xenophobia, racism and religious persecution to thrive.

Anything less is to allow the Games to become a global stage for radical political statements.

Anything less is to spit in the eye of the Olympic ideal that the spirit of competition can bridge differences and bring people of all backgrounds together.

I hope the Olympic ideal has a tissue handy to wipe its eye, because I predict the IOC will do nothing.