Joost Luiten again denied entry into Olympics
Joost Luiten of The Netherlands plays a shot during the pro-am prior to the BMW International Open at Golfclub Munchen Eichenried on July 03, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
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Joost Luiten of the Netherlands will not play in the Olympics after all.
The International Golf Federation (IGF) announced Tuesday that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) denied its proposed exemption to add Luiten to the field and expand the field to 61 players.
Luiten initially qualified for the Olympics but was prohibited by his home country of the Netherlands to compete because he was not in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Luiten appealed the Netherlands’ decision in court and won, but the IGF had already reallocated Luiten’s spot to another golfer.
“When the International Golf Federation (IGF) received notification of Joost Luiten’s court ruling in the Netherlands and his entry from the Netherlands’ National Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF), his unused quota spot had already been reallocated pursuant to the IGF’s published qualification procedures,” the IGF said in a statement.
“The IGF was not a party to the legal action brought forth by Luiten in the Netherlands. Nevertheless, in an effort to support Luiten, the IGF sought an exception from the IOC to increase the field size of the men’s Olympic golf competition from 60 to 61 competitors to include Luiten, however the request was denied by the IOC today. The IGF has advised Luiten of the IOC’s decision, and he has not informed the IGF whether he intends to pursue this matter further.”
Luiten expressed his disappointment in the decision on Instagram, saying, “If you say the fundamentals of the Olympics Games are about INTEGRITY, FAIRPLAY and RESPECT you are all lies.”