- The two triathletes who suffered a violation of their language rights had a meeting with Atlético San Sebastián, the Triathlon Federation of the Basque Country, who took the red card from the triathlete with the judge. The athletes in the note that they have extracted say that although they have managed to understand “in a broad sense” with the judge, they have not managed to extract a common note.
In the following lines you have the note that the two athletes of San Sebastián have extracted after the meeting with the club, the federation and the judge Marta Berasategi:
On June 27th, at the headquarters of Atlético San Sebastián, we met the following people: Athlete expelled during the celebration of the Women’s Triathlon, referee with red card, organizers of Atlético San Sebastián and members of the Basque Triathlon Federation. After this meeting, we would like to point out that the two sisters who participated in the triathlon:
- We are confident that the violation of the language right that was granted will not happen again, as Atlético San Sebastián and the Basque Triathlon Federation have reaffirmed their commitment to continue guaranteeing the right to do so in Basque.
- We believe that the violation of the right to use the Basque language was not intentional.
- It is clear that although there was a state of tension, there was no threat or insult to the judge.
- The referee and the athletes have understood each other in the broadest sense, but we have not managed to write a common note, despite all our efforts.
- We would like to thank the Athletic Organization of San Sebastian for its total willingness to seek a solution to this problem.
San Sebastian, 29 June 2018