Slovakia has rejected the Schengen visa application of the Russian wrestler Abdulrashid Sadulaev who was set to participate in the 2025 European Wrestling Championships.
The visa denial for Sadulaev occurred before the European Wrestling Championships began, and now the event is underway without the wrestler’s participation, Schengen.News reports.
As the Russian Wrestling Federation President, Mikhail Mamiashvili, explained, the visa of Sadulaev, who is one of the most titled wrestlers in the world, was denied for political reasons, according to local media in Russia.
The same highly condemned the decision of Slovakia, saying that the visa denial for Sadulaev was a loss for the championships.
The visa denial to Sadulaev is a blow to the tournament’s status. At the moment, it is a loss for world wrestling.
Sadulaev is a two-time Olympic champion, four-time European champion, and six-time world champion. Taking this into consideration, the authorities were not happy about the way the wrestler got his rejection after previously being told that “everything would be fine” and that he would receive the document in time.
Many thanks to our colleagues from Bratislava, the Ministry of Sports, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they are closely involved in the issue, doing everything possible, and until yesterday they assured us that Sadulaev would receive a visa and everything would be fine. But Sadulaev is banned from entering the Schengen zone.
The European Wrestling Championships has returned to Slovakia after 27 years. The championships began yesterday, April 7 and will end on April 13, with almost a thousand wrestlers participating.
Some EU Countries Continue to Keep Strict Visa Rules for Russians
Some of the European Union member states continue to keep strict Schengen visa rules in place for Russians and some do not accept applications from them altogether.
On the other hand, there are some others that issue visas to Russians without any additional restrictions.
Recent data show that the member states issued 25 per cent more Schengen visas to Russians in 2024 compared to 2023.
According to the figures provided during the meeting of the Council of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs of the EU, a total of 565,069 Schengen visas were granted to Russian passport holders in 2024. About 90 per cent of the visas were issued for tourism purposes.
Soon after such figures were shared, Latvia urged all the Schengen member states to stop issuing visas for Russians.
The Latvian Minister of Interior, Rihards Kozlovskis, said that in the current circumstances, the EU cannot continue business as usual.
Latvia is one of the six EU member states that has halted the issuance of Schengen tourist visas to Russians.