Iran's Wrestling Federation (IWF) said on Tuesday that the US authorities have to be held accountable for failing to issue visas for seven Iranian wrestlers as the host of the Freestyle Wrestling World Championships.

Iran PressIran News: The spokesman of the IWF Mohammad Ebrahim Emami said that the Iranian federation had done whatever it had to do in advance for the issuance of visas for its athletes to enroll in the tournament.

“Today the whole world understood how the US looks at sports,” Emami said.

He added that the US refused to issue visas for seven Iranian wrestlers as it did in the previous edition of the tournament.

Emami went on to say that both Iran and the United World Wrestling (UWW) have to hold the US accountable for the visa denial, saying that the extraterritorial council of the Ministry of Sports will decide on Iran’s reaction to the issue.    

He pointed to the significance of the upcoming competitions in the US and the consequences of the non-presence of Iranian wrestlers in the tournament and said that the UWW has already announced to the participating countries that non-presence would cause limits for later presence in intercontinental competitions and the next year world championships which serve as qualifying tournaments for Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Washington has not publicly commented on the reported visa denial.

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