The world gymnastics authority called the rejection of visas for Russian athletes sad

According to Nicolas Buompane, all efforts have been made to convince the Dutch government to offer visas to all athletes.

Rotterdam, October 16. /TASS/. The refusal of Dutch authorities to issue visas to several Russian athletes has created a "sad" situation, World Gymnastics Secretary-General Nicolas Bompane told reporters.

The city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands will host the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships on October 17-25. Earlier, the Netherlands denied entry visas to Olympic champions Angelina Melnikova and Victoria Listonova, as well as Anna Kalmykova.

"It's very sad because the goal is really to combine sports and politics. We hear that all the time, but at the end of the day it's somehow political," Beaumpen said. "All efforts have been made to convince the Dutch government to provide visas to all athletes," Buompane added.

The World Championships will be held as the first team selection event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Based on the results, the top three men's teams and the top three women's teams will win the Olympic quota. Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev said on Tuesday that the Russian Olympic Committee would ask the International Olympic Committee and the World Gymnastics Committee to disqualify the Rotterdam Games from Olympic qualification.