Syrian Sports Federation Leader Exposes Inclusion of Naturalized Russians in National Team

The head of the Syrian Sports Federation, Firas Mualla, denied the presence of Russian athletes in the Syrian national team, which is preparing for the Games of the Arab States in Algiers.

Firas Mualla told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti that three Russian athletes competing in swimming, badminton and cycling applied to international sports federations for citizenship to participate in Syrian teams, but were denied.

The head of the Syrian Sports Federation pointed out that: “There is not a single non-Syrian athlete in the team preparing for Algeria.”

Earlier, files of five Russian athletes appeared on the site of the Arab Games, which started on Wednesday in Algiers: badminton player Daria Dzhidzhula, cyclists Tatyana Malkova and Daria Malkova, track and field athlete Karina Polodkina and swimmer Anastasia Sorokina.

It is noteworthy that they represent the Syrian national team, and several mistakes were made in the names and dates of birth of the athletes.

From July 5 to 15, 2023, Algiers will host the thirteenth Arab Games with 18 countries participating, and the number of participants exceeded 3,800 male and female athletes.

The tournament includes 20 games: football, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, bowling, gymnastics, chess, cycling, weapons, handball, volleyball, judo, karate, sailing, swimming, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

Source: “rsport.ria.ru”