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It is a decision which risks greatly upsetting the sporting balance of wrestling at the Paris Games this summer (July 26-August 11). The Russian Wrestling Federation, which dominates the world level, announced on Saturday that its wrestlers authorized to participate in the Olympics had refused “unanimously” to go to Paris, denouncing a “competition parody”.
“We do not accept the non-sporting principle of selection on which the International Olympic Committee was based (IOC) by establishing its list of authorized athletes whose objective is to undermine the unity of our teamexplained the Federation in a press release. Russian wrestlers were able to obtain 16 Olympic licenses out of 18 possible under conditions of unfounded threats of sanctions and restrictions. The unified world of wrestling has lost its last chance to see a competition between the strongest at the Olympic Games. »
In its list of sixteen Russian wrestlers authorized to participate, the IOC ultimately retained only ten, excluding the most successful, including the double Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev and the double world champion Zaur Uguev. In this context, the presidency of the Wrestling Federation organized a meeting with the invited wrestlers and their coaches and “a decision was taken unanimously”according to the same source.
“An unjustified dictatorship of the IOC resulted in this organization itself starting to define the composition of the selections. It’s already too much”
Mikhail Mamiashvili, president of the Russian Wrestling Federation
“It’s not the Olympic Games, it’s a parody of competitionsaid the president of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, to the official Tass agency. An unjustified dictatorship of the IOC resulted in this organization itself beginning to define the composition of the selections. It’s already too much. »
At the beginning of December, the International Olympic Committee authorized Russian athletes to participate in the Paris Games on condition that they compete under a neutral banner, excluding team events, that they have not actively supported the Russian offensive in Ukraine and that they they have cleared the qualification hurdle. Deprived of their flag and anthem, many Russian athletes have already chosen to give up, denouncing criteria “discriminatory”. Others have seen the Olympic door closed because of their support for the Russian assault or because they are in clubs linked to the armed or security forces, with regard to the conditions set by the IOC.