in february 2018 the united world wrestling banned karimi for six months for deliberately throwing a match to avoid having to face an israeli opponent, uri kalashnikov who went on to win the bronze medal. he thereby violated international wrestling rules and the uww disciplinary regulations, by intentionally losing to a russian competitor in the quarterfinal of the u-23 world championship in bydgoszcz, poland, in the 86-kilogram category, in november 2017. karimi was then supposed to face the israeli, kalashnikov, in the repechage (to compete for the bronze medal), but he forfeited that match. karimi’s coach, hamidreza jamshidi, was also banned from the sport, in his case for two years, for instructing karimi to lose, shouting from the sidelines: "ali reza, lose." karimi told the iranian students news agency that he purposefully lost to avoid the risk of competing against the israeli. iran's wrestling federation had praised karimi for throwing the match.