USA Wrestling Planning Iran Venture, Despite Foreign Ministry Ban

(ATR) The Iranian Foreign Ministry says U.S. wrestlers will be barred, but USA Wrestling remains optimistic.

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(ATR) Until told otherwise United States wrestlers plan to compete in Iran later this month.

On Feb. 16-17 Kermanshah, Iran is to host a wrestling World Cup event. Last week, the United States implemented a temporary travel ban for citizens from seven countries, including Iran.

Immediately, it was speculated that Iran would bar U.S. citizens from traveling to the country in a reciprocal move threatening participation of the U.S. team.

Iranian officials eventually barred U.S. citizens from traveling, but did not say if athletes would be included. Quickly after the U.S. travel ban, the State Department told Around the Rings it has a "longstanding" policy to allow for athlete travel exceptions.

Today, on Iranian state TV Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said that the wrestling delegation would be denied entry into the country.

"A special committee in Tehran reviewed their cases and decided to oppose the visit by the U.S. freestyle wrestling team," Ghasemi was quoted as saying by international media. "The visa policy of the new American administration gave us no other option but to ban the wrestlers."

A spokesperson for USA Wrestling put out a statement in response saying the federation had not heard officially that the wrestlers would be barred from travelling to the World Cup event.

"We have no official documentation that the USA Wrestling team will be denied the opportunity to participate at the Freestyle World Cup," Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling spokesperson said in a statement given to ATR. "The Freestyle World Cup is the annual World dual meet championship, one of the most important events that United World Wrestling hosts each year.

"If these reports are true, USA Wrestling is extremely disappointed about this, which we believe would be an unacceptable situation. Wrestling is about competition and goodwill through sport, and is no place for politics."

UWW president Nenad Lalovic issued a statement after the decision saying the federation wished for a different outcome, and is working to find a solution.

"Though we had hoped for a different outcome from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, we appreciate the complex nature of this decision," Lalovic said. "Despite the travel restrictions between their countries I’ve been encouraged this week by the cooperation and friendship of the Iranian Wrestling Federation and USA Wrestling. As we’ve seen over the years, wrestling is a sport that unites people and nations."

Written by Aaron Bauer

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.

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