The 2019 edition of World Taekwondo Championships is going to be held in Manchester on May 15-19 with more than 950 athletes in participation.
The Iranian team, comprised of 14 taekwondokas, was set to depart for Manchester on Friday night but four athletes, one coach, and three federation officials failed to make the trip due to UK's refusal to issue visas.
The Iranian federation says that its a long time that they have done the required paperwork for obtaining visas.
"It's very surprising that in an event at this high level, some try to create problems for Iran's national team," Arash Farhadian, director of Iranian national teams organization, told IRNA on Sunday. The UK should not treat the Iranian team, which is among taekwondo world powers, like this, he added, calling on the International Olympic Committee to investigate the case.
Meanwhile, the team's head coach Faribourz Asgari has not departed for Manchester, despite having his visa, in a bid to support his practitioners in face of these problems.
Iran's protests have proved effective as UK is going to reportedly issue visas so that rest of the Iranian team can arrive in Manchester on Monday.
MNA/IRN83311367/4614360