President of the Russian Wrestling Federation Mikhail Mamiashvili told how the organization helps athletes train for competition under conditions that are not eligible for international entry, and also complained about political interference in sports.
In February, the IOC Executive Board recommended that international federations prevent Russians and Belarusians from participating in international competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. Many federations have followed these recommendations and suspended athletes from both countries.
– We are worried about the selection for the Olympic Games. We hope that common sense and Olympic principles, if they still exist, will prevail. On our side, we try to organize competitions for our wrestlers. Now the guys from Kyrgyzstan have fought against strong opponents, the reigning world champions. I recently visited Qatar, I negotiated the possibility of organizing competitions there with the newly elected president of the local federation. They want to develop this sport with great pleasure, it is requested. And they know our champions, admire their status and level! Let’s plan the contest for May.
The main task is to create conditions in which our guys could compete with the best wrestlers in the world, to give additional excitement. There must be a competitive practice. Of course, it’s not easy. We are under unprecedented pressure. To be honest, it’s not even surprising anymore. Loud slogans have been heard all these years, and now the situation is being interpreted in a politically appropriate way.
Fresh caption: since 2014, participation in competitions in Russia for our wrestling brothers from Ukraine is limited by the authorities of their country. They couldn’t ban it, because they would fall under sanctions themselves, but the denial of funding hasn’t allowed national teams to travel to competitions, including the youth championship, which ended brilliantly unfolded in Bashkortostan. Nevertheless, we then took on all the participation costs of the Ukrainian team – and some of their athletes even achieved a podium. The anthem sounded, the flag was raised – everything was as correct as possible from us. The athletes were satisfied, happy. It was a sporting event for a sporting event – and it’s the right way. But today it’s the other way around,” Mamiashvili told .
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
