Dear Mr. President, dear Olympic friend,

 First of all, please receive our most sincere wishes of good health and success in your activity. We are well aware of the fact that your agenda is as full as it gets in an Olympic year. On the other hand, you have proved many times your excellent leadership qualities and your true allegiances to the people who share the Olympic ideals and work together with the aim to deliver the most popular sporting event on the planet. This is why we respectfully ask you to allow us to bring to your attention the following situation, in an attempt to solve it in a peaceful, suitable and just manner.

Recently, from his position of high authority and influence, the President of the International Judo Federation, offered an interview to a Romanian publication with a large audience, in which he made a number of serious accusations to the Romanian Judo Federation and its leadership, all in an unjust way and speculating without any real backing. These accusations were directed to the financial situation of our organization, as well as to its sports results, with links to its internal relations and managing manners, describing all in short as “a real mess” and harshly blaming our leadership and the RJF President for it.

Honestly, we are the first to admit that none of the mentioned aspects are perfect, we know that there is always room for better and we constantly work at it. On the other hand, but just as honest, the reality is way far from the image shown to the public in the said interview. We can prove at any given time, to any competent authority, that the public statements of the IJF President are totally erroneous and, most of all, extremely harmful to our organization in many aspects, if to mention only our local sponsors.

Dear Mr. President, please believe that we are always open to criticism, in the spirit of our sport and of the good practices of the world we live in. Even more, we would have been the first to publicly thank the IJF President, should his criticism had been justified, constructive and made in a manner that would stimulate a correct understanding of the problems and a genuine cooperation impulse for the overall improvement of our organization.

But unfortunately, this is not the case, as his intervention caused but conflict, disarray and a destructive public image, with instant and widely spreading effects that would take great efforts and a very long time to fade away. It is the kind of harm extremely easy to do, but incomparably harder to policy against. We do not deserve it and we definitely cannot afford it, especially now when all our undivided attention should focus on our athletes, their needs and their hard working to qualify for the incoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

We have informed our governmental body for sport and our NOC about this situation and our position and we hope to be able to manage the domestic situation in a suitable fashion. However, after a deep, honest and responsible evaluation, we have made the decision to bring this situation to your attention as well, with the hope that you will employ the proper means to cease its harmful evolution and give us the ability to fully enjoy together the unique atmosphere of Paris, while celebrating the Olympic Games this year.

To conclude, dear Mr. President, dear Olympic friend, please receive our most sincere Olympic feelings, along with our warmest thoughts for you and your loved ones.”

By Cozmin Gusa/President of the Romanian Judo Federation