Joost Luiten will not be representing the Netherlands at the Olympics in Paris this summer, despite having qualified for the Games and emerged victorious in court.
Along with Dewi Weber, Anne van Dam, and Darius Van Driel, Luiten was one of four Dutch golfers who made it to the Olympics. But the Dutch Olympic committee decided to send only van Dam to the Games because they thought she was the only one with a legitimate chance to win a medal.
Protesting against the decision, Luiten sued the Dutch Olympic Committee in the Netherlands, and last week he emerged victorious, which ought to have allowed him to compete in the Games. However, the International Golf Federation (IGF) said that the athlete’s place in the 60-man field “had already been reallocated.” They also pointed fingers at the International Olympic Committee for denying a request to increase the field size for Luiten.
Luiten: You are all lies
In an Instagram post, Luiten expressed his disappointment at the decision. He stated n his post caption: “I can’t take The Olympics (IOC) serious anymore!
“If they say the fundamentals of the olympic games are about INTEGRITY, FAIRPLAY and RESPECT you are all lies!
“Even though I have been qualified by their own rules and entered before the entry deadline! They don’t let me play!…”
“I don’t see any fairplay or respect from the IOC, so how can they say The Olympic games are built on those fundamentals??
It is all POLITICS and all they care about is that they have their own party at the olympics with their mates!!” he added.
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In his career, the 38-year-old has won six times on the DP World Tour, his most recent victory being at the NBO Oman Open in 2018. When the Netherlands decided not to send him to Paris, he was No. 40 in the Olympic rankings. He is presently at No. 159 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Source: Yahoo Sports