Visa obstacle for world champion national athlete

World champion national athlete Umay Doğu will be unable to participate in the 2024 European Capoeira Championship, which will be held in Hungary between May 31 and June 2, because her visa application was rejected.

Despite being invited by the World Capoeira Federation, Doğu, whose visa was rejected, spoke to Tamer Öztürk from Cumhuriyet regarding the matter.

In her statement, national athlete Doğu said, "After my visa was rejected, I asked the World Capoeira Federation to call the consulate. Despite this, they hung up the phone on them twice. Even though you report your urgency, your emails are not answered in any way. There is a consulate that remains indifferent to a federation that supports its athlete."

''I WAS TURNED AWAY AT THE DOOR''

World champion Umay Doğu stated, "When I arrived at the consulate on May 27, I was not let in because I did not have an appointment, and even though I managed to find an appointment for May 29, I was turned away at the door with the words, 'Visa processing will take 15 days, and since your championship will end within that period, it will not mean anything for us to process it.'"

"I CANNOT GO AS SOMEONE WHO HAS BECOME A WORLD CHAMPION"

Umay Doğu stated that she would not be able to participate in the European Championship to be held in Hungary, and noted the following:

"As the 2022 world champion and the only female capoeira athlete from Turkey, I cannot go to the European Capoeira Championship. The reason is that the documents could not be processed quickly."

"DUE TO FINANCIAL INSUFFICIENCY AND THINKING I MIGHT FLEE..."

Speaking about the reason for her visa rejection, Doğu said, "Even though I included the invoices for everything and was sponsored by my mother's and father's companies, my visa was rejected due to financial insufficiency and because they thought I might flee. A sponsor covered my accommodation, yet they still gave a rejection."

"THE CONSULATE AND GOVERNMENT OFFICES ARE NOT HELPING"

Stating that the consulate and government offices are not helpful, Umay Doğu said, "I became a champion at the 2022 World Championship. Even though I put photos of myself waving our flag into the application file, the consulate and government offices are not helping me. As a national athlete, I cannot go to the competition with my hands tied."