FILA postpones Turkish wrestler's suspension

Riza Kayaalp

Ankara - Wrestling’s governing body FILA has delayed Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp’s suspension for racism, announcing that the case will be reviewed after next month’s World Championships.

Turkish wrestler Kayaalp had targeted Greeks and Armenians in his tweets posted during the Gezi Park unrest in Turkey. He advocated in a series of tweets he later deleted that “Armenians” were at the root of the Gezi protests, reports Xinhua.

Kayaalp was handed a six-month ban by FILA earlier this month, but the Turkish Wrestling Federation (TGF) appealed the decision. FILA then ruled to postpone the case, opting to review the case against the former world and European champion athlete’s anti-Armenian tweets.

A day earlier, TGF Chairman Hamza Yerlikaya defended Kayaalp, calling the ban, which barred him from next month’s World Championships, was “unlawful” and vowed to take the issue to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if their appeal to FILA was not successful.