As a result of growing tension between the governments of Israel and Turkey, the Israeli wrestling team will not travel to the World Olympic Qualifier to be held May 9-13 in Istanbul, Turkey. This is the last competition with tickets in dispute for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, so this binding measure buries the Olympic possibilities of the five Israeli fighters who were going to compete – Joshua Stuart Finesilver, Mitchell Louis Finesilver, Yuri Kalashnikov, Melkamu Fetene and Ilana Kratysh.

The decision was made by Israel’s Shin Bet Security Agency due to rising tensions between the two countries. This comes a day after Turkey suspended trade relations with Israel, including imports and exports, a break after which Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “dictator” for “blocking” the ports. Since March, Turkey has included Israel on a list of countries it warns against traveling to due to the potential risk of terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile, IOC President Thomas Bach promised to send invitations to the Palestinian National Olympic Committee when they failed to qualify on their own merits, considering that damage to sports facilities prevented proper training of athletes, a reason that differs from what happened. with the Israeli fighters.So far, the IOC president has not commented on this situation.