Wrestling U23 World Championships:
Iranians ruled out after Albania visa refusal
Iranian Greco-Roman and freestyle squads missed out on the Wrestling U23 World Championships – starting Monday in Tirana – after host Albania refused to issue entry visas for them.
This was a second visa setback in as many days for the Iranian athletes as several members of country’s karate team were also ruled of the upcoming World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, for the same reason.
“The Iranian Wrestling Federation had provided the Albanian Wresting Federation and the United World Wrestling with all required documents regarding participation at the event a month ago,” the Iranian governing body of the sport wrote in a statement late on Friday, adding: “However, despite repeated follow-ups, Albania refused to grant visas to the Iranian youths, who were the favorites to win the titles at the competitions, for political reasons.”
The two Iranian teams were hoping to complete a clean sweep of six world age-group titles for the country in 2023 – following under-17 and under-20 crowns earlier in the summer.
The Iranians’ absence means the tournament will take place without the reigning Greco-Roman champion and last year’s freestyle runner-up.
Denouncing the decision as “unconventional”, the Iranian federation said it would lodge a complaint to the related governing bodies.
“It is clear to everyone that Albania, which has proved its animosity towards the Iranian people in the past, made the decision against the international norms and out of support for a certain group,” the statement added.
For nearly a decade, the European country has accommodated several thousand members of the anti-Iran terrorist cult Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), who reside in Camp Ashraf 3 near the Albanian capital.
The MKO has carried out numerous terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and government officials since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in the country, killing nearly 17,000.