Mamiashvili, vice president of United World Wrestling (UWW) who was described by the Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe website as “a personal friend of Russian President Vladimir Putinâ€, revealed the situation at Russian federation website late Sunday, Sept. 6, one day before the start of the 2015 World Championships.
"The U.S. denied me a visa, they didn't explain their decision," said Mamiashvili, according to the Moscow Times. "I will not fly to Las Vegas, the team is already there. I'm positive the decision has nothing to do with sport."
The first vice president of the federation, Georgy Bryusov, claimed the decision to deny a visa to Mamiashvili was politically motivated.
"I'm sure the U.S. wrestling federation did everything they could to resolve the visa issue,†Bryusov said in a statement issued by the Russian federation. “But I have to acknowledge that politics has once again prevailed over sport and over common sense."
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