The Egyptian 2016 Olympic wrestlers are among the countless Arab Olympians who did not receive the support they earned.

In an official statement directed to Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the Egyptian Olympic wrestlers protested against the National Wrestling Federation, the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport’s neglect and failure to adequately prepare them for the games.

The first shortcoming was not taking part in any international tournaments or training camps abroad until June, two months prior to the games. Plus, the training camps that were arranged were weak and ineffective. This will inevitably impede the wrestlers from achieving ultimate results at the Rio Olympics, despite having proven their competence internationally.

The wrestlers then complained of not receiving their earnings and monetary rewards for April’s Olympic Qualifiers and May’s African Championships. Meanwhile, other federations have already reimbursed their athletes. Egypt’s wrestlers have thus demanded to know the reason behind the delay and the parties it is serving.

Thirdly, they find traveling to Rio de Janeiro on August 8 – roughly a week before the wrestling event – inappropriate and question why the NOC refused the federation’s request to travel on July 25. They need more time to settle in Brazil and cope with the weather and training facilities, especially since many wrestlers are struggling to maintain their weight. Egyptian wrestler Mahmoud Fawzy noted that Azerbaijan, Turkey and Cuba’s wrestling squads are already in Rio.

Additionally, Egypt’s wrestlers criticized the cheap flights that were scheduled for the ongoing camp in Hungary. The travel plans included an unnecessary layover in Italy despite having taken off from Spain. Many athletes lost their luggage and were forced to delay their training.

The statement ended with two requests. The national Egyptian wrestling team demanded that it get paid all its earnings before the Olympic Games, otherwise, it would refrain from participating in Rio 2016. The team then asked for rescheduling the flight to Rio to an earlier date.

“We await immediate action so we don’t jeopardize our dream – and every Egyptian athlete’s dream – of raising the Egyptian flag at the Olympics,” they concluded.

The Egyptian NOC’s first move after receiving the complaints was paying for the two female Egyptian Olympic wrestlers’ training camp in Brazil.

Egyptian wrestlers have earned ten spots at the Rio Olympics through the Africa-Oceania Qualifiers. Haithem Mahmoud, Adham Kahk, Ahmed Saad, Hamy Abdelwahab, Mohamed Abdelatif, Mohamed Aly Mohamed and Diaaeldin Abdelmottaleb’s gold-medal wins in their respective categories granted Egypt seven Olympic berths at the men’s Greco-Roman wrestling tournament. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Sebie, Enas Ahmed and Samar Hamzah seized Olympic tickets by winning silver.

The first Arab Olympian was actually an Egyptian wrestler, as Egypt sent Eugenio Colombani to the 1906 Intercalated Games in Athens. Since then, Egyptian wrestlers have claimed a gold, a bronze and two silver medals at the Olympics.