Noureddine Hadid was denied entry to the US for the World Athletic Championships in July 2022. (Courtesy of Noureddine Hadid's Twitter/@nour_hadid)
BEIRUT — Lebanese track and field athlete Noureddine Hadid was denied a visa to participate in the World Athletic Championships next month in the United States, despite an official invitation letter from both the American and the international federation of World Athletics.
Hadid said he had told the person interviewing him at his visa appointment on May 24 – two weeks after he had applied for the expedited US visa – that he is traveling to the US “to represent my country for the championship.” His visa application was rejected on the spot for lack of supporting documents that would prove he’s planning on coming back to Lebanon.
Hadid was the chosen athlete among five Lebanese athletes to compete at the World Athletic Championships for the 100-meter race, which occurs every other year, and is scheduled from July 15 until July 24 in Eugene, USA.
Hadid told L’Orient Today that he had participated in the 2019 Asian and World Athletic Championships, which took place in Doha, Qatar, and had made it to the finals, a record for Lebanon.
He had also represented Lebanon in the Tokyo Olympics in addition to competing in Korea, China, and Europe. He said he never had a problem being granted a visa to enter any of those countries.
According to George Assaf, Hadid’s coach, after several failed attempts at changing the rejection decision, Hadid was replaced with athlete Mark Anthony Ibrahim, who has a US passport and will be representing Lebanon at the World Athletics Championships.
Assaf, who plans on traveling to the US with the competing athlete, said he also had complications with his visa application including the embassy requesting further information and documents such as the countries he has been to over the last 15 years.
Assaf told L’Orient Today that due to “internal political conflict” between Lebanon’s Olympic Team and the Lebanese Athletics Federation, some opportunities are being wasted. For instance, no names of Lebanese athletes have been sent to the organizers of the Mediterranean Games – a multi-sport event organized by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games – set to take place in Algeria on June 25, and so Lebanon will not be competing at this tournament.
Hadid, who is a sergeant with the Lebanese Army, said he will be participating in the upcoming Islamic Games in Turkey in August, along with four other Lebanese athletes.