Russian Ministry claims US refusal to grant visas behind 2018 Wrestling World Cup withdrawal

[Eddieg19 0]

http://mmasucka.com/2018/03/29/russian-ministry-claims-us-refuses-to-grant-visas-out-of-2018-wrestling-world-cup/

 

 

A couple sources giving statements from a Ministry spokeswoman. 

 

Claims this is "an act of direct and open discrimination" and "they don't play fair." 

 

 

Personally I feel they're making excuses not to show up, knowing full well they'll have a poor showing. US is gonna run through this World Cup but it just won't be the same. 

[LJB 1,644]

silliness...

 

russia has never placed any real emphasis on the world cup and always send their c guys...

[Abdullahgadzhi Khuzin 1,459]

http://mmasucka.com/2018/03/29/russian-ministry-claims-us-refuses-to-grant-visas-out-of-2018-wrestling-world-cup/

 

 

A couple sources giving statements from a Ministry spokeswoman. 

 

Claims this is "an act of direct and open discrimination" and "they don't play fair." 

 

 

Personally I feel they're making excuses not to show up, knowing full well they'll have a poor showing. US is gonna run through this World Cup but it just won't be the same. 

 "they're making excuses not to show up" LOL. They sent and will send #3 team to World cup. They are indifferent to the result of the World Cup. 

[Abdullahgadzhi Khuzin 1,459]

I think USA wins world cup, beat AZE 6-4 maybe 5-5. 

 

57: Gilman beat Edisherashvili 

61: Gvarzatilov beat Maple 

65: Aliyev beat Stieber

70: Green beat Muslimov 

74: JB beat Omarov

79: Gasanov beat Dake

86: Taylor beat Sharifov 

92: Alborov  beat Cox

97: Snyder beat Gadzhiev

125: Magomedov beat Gwiz.

 

USA df. AZE 5-5 by criteria 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Abdullahgadzhi Khuzin

[spladle 179]

It's political theatre.

[NJDan 671]

We should boycott the soccer world cup to retaliate. Oh, wait.

[Cletus_Tucker 890]

I'm in.   I wont be attending the soccer.   

[Billyhoyle 2,027]

Our government is run by completely incompetent people. 

[Abdullahgadzhi Khuzin 1,459]

We should boycott the soccer world cup to retaliate. Oh, wait.

BREAKING! USA no go to Soccer World CUP! They boycott FIFA world cup!!! 

[MadMardigain 1,356]

BREAKING! USA no go to Soccer World CUP! They boycott FIFA world cup!!!

Sadly they just sucked.

[cjc007 703]

http://mmasucka.com/2018/03/29/russian-ministry-claims-us-refuses-to-grant-visas-out-of-2018-wrestling-world-cup/

 

 

A couple sources giving statements from a Ministry spokeswoman.

 

Claims this is "an act of direct and open discrimination" and "they don't play fair."

 

 

Personally I feel they're making excuses not to show up, knowing full well they'll have a poor showing. US is gonna run through this World Cup but it just won't be the same.

They're not allowed in the country because we denied their Visa's.

 

They don't take the event seriously, which is there prerogative. But, they aren't the bad guys here.

 

Do you really think they want conflict before they host the World Cup?

 

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Edited March 29, 2018 by cjc007

[Billyhoyle 2,027]

Without Russia and Iran, one of the few good international events of the year is now pointless. THANKS OBAMA. 

Edited March 29, 2018 by Billyhoyle

[cjc007 703]

 

Without Russia and Iran, one of the few good international events of the year is now pointless. THANKS OBAMA.

Thank the Russian hysteria and our globalist agenda.

 

And that spy poisoning in the UK.

 

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[Billyhoyle 2,027]

Thank the Russian hysteria and our globalist agenda.

 

And that spy poisoning in the UK.

 

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wtf are you talking about? They're athletes and have nothing to do with any of that.  The only people to blame are in our own government for bringing politics into athletics.  Carter's decision was the worst, but any time this happens is bad (unless it is a safety issue like after 9/11 in Iran).  

[cjc007 703]

wtf are you talking about? They're athletes and have nothing to do with any of that. The only people to blame are in our own government for bringing politics into athletics. Carter's decision was the worst, but any time this happens is bad (unless it is a safety issue like after 9/11 in Iran).

I'm talking about the demonization of Russia and Iran by the West.

 

Now, we can't trust the Russian or Iranian delegations?

 

What a joke!

 

 

 

 

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[Billyhoyle 2,027]

I'm talking about the demonization of Russia and Iran by the West.

 

Now, we can't trust the Russian or Iranian delegations?

 

What a joke!

 

 

 

 

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Politically, both of those countries are right to be demonized.  That has nothing to do with granting visas to athletes though, which should be done regardless of politics. 

[BAC 129]

This is strange and troubling situation -- not just because the Russian team isn't coming to this event, but more broadly because it could impact the ability of the U.S. to host future UWW events if it won't grant foreign visas for illegitimate reasons.  But its hard to figure out what really happened here.

 

My first assumption when I saw the news was that the U.S. denied a visa only to Mamiashvili, who threw a fit and had the whole team boycott.  I'm still not ready to totally discount that possibility, as Mamiashvili (the Russian Wrestling Federation president and former FILA member) has a long, long history of having his visa denied by the U.S. due to his ties to organized crime, and past bribery and thuggish behavior.  His visa was denied in 2015 when Worlds were in Vegas, and numerous times before that.  If that's what happened, its entirely on Russia. 

 

But this Newsweek article says the U.S. Embassy in Moscow refused to issue any visas, and that the U.S.'s "explanation is that it lacked consular staff due to the wave of diplomatic expulsions after the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal."  See http://www.newsweek.com/russia-upset-its-wrestlers-cant-get-us-visas-world-champs-865829.  But this makes no since the Skripal episode involves the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats.  Why would the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats from the U.S. result in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow lacking staff?

 

This article tethers the U.S. explanation to an earlier tit-for-tat episode following the Crimea annexation by Russia, where Russia retaliated against U.S. sanctions by expelling 300 U.S. embassy personnel, reducing staff from 755 to 355.  It quotes a U.S. official as follows:  â€œUnfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to answer every one of the numerous requests from the Russian ministry of foreign affairs, especially when it relates to large numbers of people.” See https://www.channelstv.com/2018/03/29/russia-blasts-united-states-over-wrestling-visa-refusals/.

 

The truth may be a combination of the two.  The most charitable explanation is that the U.S. Embassy was indeed struggling to get the visas processed in time, and the Skripal epidode made the Embassy, shall we say, less motivated to do any favors for Russian athletes.  The Russian view seems to be that the staffing had nothing to do with it:  rather, the U.S.'s retaliation for the Skripal poisoning wasn't limited to just the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats on March 26, but also instructions to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow not to process the Russia visa applications -- for which the U.S. blamed Russia by citing the prior Russia-imposed reduction in embassy staff.  Certainly that's what Russia seems to think, and as support they claim that the Embassy request was put in back in February, and the refusal to grant interviews was conveniently announced alongside the expulsion of Russian diplomats.  See https://sputniknews.com/world/201803281063005324-russia-wrestling-team-visas-us/.

 

I won't get into the politics of Crimea, Skripal, or the various personnel expulsions.  But from a wrestling perspective, not only does it suck that Russia's team won't be here, I will say its a very dangerous game that the U.S. is playing.  How can the UWW allow the U.S. to host future international events, if there's a real possibility that the U.S. won't grant visas to athletes from a country with whom the U.S. has political differences?  Russia's Foreign Ministry is already making that argument, as per the article in the last link:  "We regard the US actions as another obvious example of preventing participation of Russian athletes in international competitions… We expect that the world sports community will pay attention to this blatant move. It is impossible to conduct international sports events in the United States â€” they play unfairly." 

 

If, for example, Iran refused to grant visas to U.S. athletes to attend an Iran-hosted World Cup because their government doesn't agree with our government, is there any doubt that every one of us would be demanding that the UWW bar Iran from ever hosting another UWW-sponsored event?

 

Again, maybe the U.S. government can plausibly deny that's what happening here, by blaming Russia for the staff reductions.  But come on: this is a high profile event.  Does anyone seriously doubt that the U.S. Embassy could've lined up one of its 355 employees for a half-day's worth of athlete interviews?  It sure sounds political to me, with the staff reductions being used as a scapegoat.  Even if the staffing reductions are a real factor, I think it will be perceived as political by the international community, which is just as bad.

 

One of the earlier articles quotes Mamiashvili as saying USA Wrestling was doing "everything they can" to work through the issue.  I really hope that is true, as this poses a risk of backlash in hosting future events.  Moreover I hope USA Wrestling is getting the US Olympic Committee involved, and other international sports' governing bodies, as the backlash could affect them too.  They've probably got another day or two to get this fixed, and I really hope they do.

[cjc007 703]

Politically, both of those countries are right to be demonized. That has nothing to do with granting visas to athletes though, which should be done regardless of politics.

Why should they be demonized? Because Big Brother said so?

 

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[Billyhoyle 2,027]

Why should they be demonized? Because Big Brother said so?

 

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Because Ayatolla Khomeini and Putin are both tyrannical rulers. Iran directly funds terrorism and Russia backs Assad who attacks his own people with chemical weapons.  People who criticize either government are found dead...But yeah, you're probably right that the whole thing is a conspiracy and the reason the wrestling team wasn't granted visas is due to the illuminati.  

Edited March 30, 2018 by Billyhoyle

[RetiredPoster 87]

This is political. This is the guy you voted into office flexing his muscles.  You wanted him, you got him!   It will get worse, before it is better.  Sports, in his eyes, don't matter.

[gutfirst 219]

We should boycott the soccer world cup to retaliate. Oh, wait.

Too soon. Still stings.

[spladle 179]

Sports are political and always have been. I don't see it changing anytime soon.

Edited March 30, 2018 by spladle

[Abdullahgadzhi Khuzin 1,459]

Thank the Russian hysteria and our globalist agenda.

 

And that spy poisoning in the UK.

 

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spy poisoning in the UK.....World wrestling  cup in Iowa....spy poisoning in the UK....World wrestling cup in Iowa....hhhmmmm here there is something in common!

[cjc007 703]

Because Ayatolla Khomeini and Putin are both tyrannical rulers. Iran directly funds terrorism and Russia backs Assad who attacks his own people with chemical weapons. People who criticize either government are found dead...But yeah, you're probably right that the whole thing is a conspiracy and the reason the wrestling team wasn't granted visas is due to the illuminati.

We gave Iraq chemical weapons in the 1980's that they (Iraq) used against Iranian civilians (killing their women and children.

 

The USA invaded Iraq for no apparent reason, funded "moderate Islamic terrorists" in Syria, gives military grade weaponry to the Israeli's and Saudi's who been bombing Yemen back to the Stone Age.

 

 

 

Then there's the Gaddafi removal in Lybia. Now there's an active slave trade in Lybia. Isn't that great?

 

But yeah Iran and Russia are the bad guys here.

 

USA! USA! USA!

 

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[TripNSweep 503]

Because Ayatolla Khomeini and Putin are both tyrannical rulers. Iran directly funds terrorism and Russia backs Assad who attacks his own people with chemical weapons.  People who criticize either government are found dead...But yeah, you're probably right that the whole thing is a conspiracy and the reason the wrestling team wasn't granted visas is due to the illuminati.  

 

Most Iranians don't particularly care for Khomeini anyway, but they won't say it publicly usually or they'll end up being thrown off a cliff in a burlap bag or something.  Within another 10-15 years Iran will have a regime change and will be pushing to become a more secular country, albeit with Islamic traditions since those probably aren't going away, so probably something close to what you might see in Turkey or Indonesia.  I'd say anywhere from 80-90% of the citizens in Iran aren't pleased with their government.  That's why I don't understand why anyone wants to go to war with them, it'll just be like 79 all over again when we turned an entire generation or two against us.  Instead we allowed a situation to occur where the crazy fundamentalists took over and were asleep at the wheel and look how well that turned out.