First, thank you all for the incredible support over these last few months! It has been amazing to see the outpouring of solidarity with Latifah.
After weeks and weeks of back and forth, unfortunately, UWW has officially denied Latifah the opportunity she earned to wrestle in Mexico while adhering to her faith.
At this time UWW has told Latifah that she is banned from competition at any and all UWW sanctioned events, domestically and internationally should she choose to continue to adhere to her faith.
UWW has told her that in order for them to reconsider their position they would need to see her uniform being tested in tournament settings.
There are two issues with this.
First, they told her she was banned from competition but did not provide her with a list of tournaments she can compete in that they would approve of.
Second - the reality is that the test of her uniform has already been done in the many tournaments she has already competed in, not the least of which was the USMC Women’s National and World Team Trials where she qualified to represent the USA at the Pan Ams!!!
So… What can you do to help?
Bombard the UWW and International Olympic Committee Officials with emails (emails listed below).
- Tell them exactly how you feel about them denying Latifah the opportunity she rightfully earned to represent the US in Mexico.
- Demand that they reconsider their position on the uniform.
- Ask them to provide Latifah with a list of approved tournaments where she can continue to prove that the uniform is not an unfair advantage or a safety hazard.
nenad.lalovic@uww.org, sjdziedzic@aol.com, cbickley@usawrestling.org, rbender@usawrestling.org, daulet.turlykhanov@uww.org, francisco.lee@uww.org, carlos.roy@uww.org, international@usoc.org, sereferoglu@tgf.gov.tr, hpccalgary@wrestling.ca, bacsip@birkozoszov.hu, safin.sf@live.it, alingrigore78@yahoo.com, Daniel.Igali@gmail.com, 1220493010@qq.com, mikhail.mamiashvili@uww.org
Thank you all for your continued support! It really means so much to Latifah, her family, and her coaches!