The president of Iran’s Wrestling Federation, Alireza Dabir, says he cancelled an Iran-US meet after several visa applications were rejected by American authorities.
Dabir and five other Iranians reportedly had been denied their visas and were, therefore, unable to make it to the event in Arlington, Texas, scheduled for Feb. 12.
Dabir did not explain the grounds on which the applications had been turned down by the US.
But the former champion has been grabbing headlines, sparking controversy and inviting criticism in the run-up to the now-canceled event.
During a televised interview in early January, the federation president went political as he expressed his admiration for Iran’s top general commander, Qasem Soleimani, killed in a US airstrike two years ago.
“We keep chanting ‘death to America,’ but what counts is that we demonstrate that in action,” he said.
