Joost Luiten, 38-year-old Dutch golfer with whom Johan Cruyff He loved to play, he announced on his social networks that a judge had agreed with him in his lawsuit against the Netherlands Olympic Committee and its criteria of excellence that prevented him from going to the Games. of Paris 2024, despite being among the 60 players in the world Olympic ranking as was the requirement of the International Federation.
“The Olympic rings are colored again. I have won the case and the NOCNSF (Netherlands Olympic Committee) has to include me before 5 p.m.,” he wrote. Luiten, winner of six DP World Tour tournaments, the last six years ago, finished square. Very poor in the cut for the Games, but the committee of their country required the men to do so among the 27 best and the women among the 25 or that a committee of experts saw the ability to finish in finalist positions. , among the top eight.
In fact, of the four potential representatives of the Netherlands who had earned the place, only Amy Van Damme (34th in the classification) had initially been accepted and had left out Darius van Driel, among the men, and Dewi Weber, in the women’s category. Both, it is assumed, will be reinstated as well.
National restrictive criteria, now fashionable in Spain due to complaints from some athletes such as Pol Retamal, which due to ranking could enter despite not having the minimum required, have already been implemented in other countries before. The Spanish hockey team, as an example, qualified for London 2012 without going to the Pre-Olympic because South Africa decided to give up its place as African champion, by not showing a minimum level .
