Armenia's Artur Aleksanyan: International wrestling federation does not accept our appeal because it is the reason

By Lusine Shahbazyan

The international wrestling federation does not accept our appeal because the international federation is the reason. Armenia's four-time Olympic medalist, four-time world champion, and seven-time European champion Greco-Roman wrestler Artur Aleksanyan said this in an interview with NEWS.am Sport.

The Olympic champion returned home from Paris on Monday.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Aleksanyan won a silver medal under controversial refereeing in the 97kg category.
"The international wrestling federation [i.e. the United World Wrestling (UWW)] does not accept our [i.e. Armenia’s] appeal because the international federation is the reason. How can it admit its guilt? We will apply to the IOC. They asked us for the video. Everything is there with the facts, the video, too. Let the experts look and say who has a point there, who doesn't," said Artur Aleksanyan.

"I played difficult matches until the final as well. There are no weak competitors in the Olympic Games. In the semifinal, I competed with the reigning world champion. I was in good shape, I felt good. In my opinion, if there was no such refereeing, I would have returned with the medal I wanted. There was tension not only against me, but also against Team Armenia. In particular, there was a biased attitude also during [Armenia’s 67kg category Greco-Roman wrestler] Slavik Galstyan's semifinal [match], as a result of which he was left without a medal," added Aleksanyan.

"I didn't talk to my opponent, he has no fault. But many people, even UWW referees whose names I won't mention, came, apologized on behalf of everyone. I still don't know if I will be at the Los Angeles [Olympic] Games or not," concluded Artur Aleksanyan.

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