THE HAGUE, October 13. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to The Netherlands Vladimir Tarabrin has criticized the Dutch authorities’ decision to deny entry visas to Russian gymnasts as an attempt to weaken Russia’s team at the upcoming world championships.

"By deliberately denying visas to our top female athletes to compete in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the Dutch authorities have once again shown complete disregard for one of the fundamental principles of world sports - fair play. This is a clear and willful attempt to weaken our team through political and bureaucratic means," he told TASS, adding that the Russian side was indignant over this decision.

The press service of the Russian Gymnastics Federation said earlier that the Dutch embassy refused to issue visas to Olympic champions Angelina Melnikova and Victoria Listunova, as well as Anna Kalmykova, giving their alleged status as a "threat to international relations" as a reason.

The World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will be held in Rotterdam from October 17 to 25 and will mark the first stage of team qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.