THE HAGUE, October 13. /TASS/. The Dutch authorities’ decision to deny entry visas to Russian gymnasts set to compete in the world championships has shown that The Netherlands cannot be entrusted with organizing international competitions, Russian Ambassador to The Netherlands Vladimir Tarabrin said.

"They wanted to ‘teach Russia a lesson,’ but only showed that The Netherlands cannot be entrusted with organizing international tournaments," he told TASS and held the Dutch authorities responsible for the disrupted sporting event that was supposed to bring people together.

Earlier, the press service of the Russian Gymnastics Federation reported that the Dutch embassy had refused to issue visas to Olympic champions Angelina Melnikova and Victoria Listunova, as well as Anna Kalmykova, citing their being 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 serve as the first stage of team qualification for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.