World Aquatics Universality rules for the World Aquatics Championships typically allow nations to send up to two non-qualifying swimmers of each gender to compete, but two nations were allowed to exceed those rules and send four non-qualified men each to the 2024 Championships in Doha, Qatar.
The World Aquatics Bureau allowed a modification to Universality rules for the 2024 World Championships in the “interests of increasing participation,” World Aquatics media spokesperson James Pearce says. This is in spite of the organization promoting record participation in the World Championships prior to the beginning of the event.
Kuwait, the home country of World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam, sent 4 men and 1 woman to the meet, as did the host nation Qatar.
None of the 4 men for either nation had World Aquatics “A” or “B” standards that would normally allow those countries to send more than two men.
Pearce says that aside from those two nations, only Oman requested an exception, which was granted but ultimately not used. Oman sent two men to the meet, both without qualifying times. Oman is home to the Secretary General of the Asian Aquatics Taha Al Kishry, who recently penned a letter inquiring about $7 million in funds that allegedly went missing from the coffers of the Kuwait Swimming Federation during Al-Musallam’s tenure in charge.
Pearce says that the extra athletes were accepted by the Bureau “on the condition that the national federation paid the costs of the additional athletes.”
Pearce says that this is not the first time that exceptions have been granted, and that World Aquatics CEO Brent Nowicki has told him that it has happened every year since he was hired in June 2021.
“There are no particular criteria,” Pearce said. “A national federation needs to make a request and that request then goes to the Bureau. If the Bureau approves a request, in the interests of increasing participation, then the national federation needs to pick up the costs of the extra athletes.”
At the 2023 championships, Kuwait entered 4 men and 2 women in the meet. One of those men, Waleed Abdulrazzaq, did have a “B” standard in the 50 fly (23.66) and not in the 100 free (50.67). He did not swim at this year’s World Championships.
The other three men at the 2023 championships were well-outside of the qualifying standards, for example 8 seconds in the 100 fly, almost 10 seconds in the 100 back, and more than 4 seconds in the 200 free.
Qatar likewise sent three men to the 2023 World Championships, none of whom had qualifying times.
This year’s qualification document was notably void of a Universality clause, though a different World Aquatics spokesperson says that:
Each National Federation has the discretion to select two (2) male and two (2) female swimmers without qualifying times for the World Aquatics Championships.
In effect, if these extra qualifier opportunities have been extended to all federations, they render the World Aquatics “B” standards moot in one sense – that countries can send many athletes who have not hit the standard. Those “B” standards then become a delimiter as to whether World Aquatics will provide Travel Assistance to the extra athletes.
In 2015, Mexico was allowed to send swimmers to the World Championships who otherwise would have been ineligible using falsified entry times. At the time, the Federation said that the entry times were accepted by FINA, and there were no apparent consequences for the falsification of results.
Interests of increasing participation = please have wealthy Middle Eastern countries throw money at sports despite having a lack of talent in the pool or on the field.
So ….why does World Aqutics have “criteria”, “standards” for world championships… Just called them what they are: “recommendations”. Wow…what a joke it has become.
World Aquatics President is from Kuwait – obvious favouritism for his own country.
Nepotism for sure. However, on this occasion it only causes him embarrassment, Kuwaiti swimmers were so slow and out of shape.
I was on a board in Kuwait when I was still working and it’s very cozy between the powerful men, I suspect that extends across borders.