With less than 60 days to go until the Olympic Games in Paris, what does the United World of Wrestling (UWW) commission think about it?
The reigning Olympic champion at 97 kg - Abdulrashid Sadulaev was not allowed to compete in his second international tournament in a row. The first tournament was the European Championships 2024 in Bucharest, then he was banned from entering Romania for unknown reasons. Then the champion in 97 kg weight became the representative of Georgia - Givi Matcharashvili.
The second start was the Olympic license tournament, which was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Russia had no quotas in the 97 kg weight, as Sadulaev was injured at the World Championships and did not fight for the bronze medal. And in Baku, he was already banned from participating in the commission of the United World of Wrestling (UWW). And the reason they gave was that Sadulaev supports the fighting in Ukraine and is still on the roster of the Russian Dynamo.
“The eligibility decision was made by the commission based on detailed reports provided by independent and private intelligence,” the UWW website says.
At that time, Alikhan Zhabrailov, who successfully won the quota for the Russian national team in the 97 kg weight category, went to the tournament in Baku instead of Sadulaev
From April 30 to May 4 the Russian Pre-Olympic Championships were held, where Abdulrashid Sadulaev successfully wrote his name in the Olympic team of the Russian national team, becoming the champion in 97 kg. Now it's up to the UWW committee.
How will they react to the participation of the reigning Olympic champion? If again they do not allow him - it will be a big problem for the Russian national team.
