On June 23, an athlete who participated in the San Sebastián Women’s Triathlon denounced that she had been fired from the race for speaking Basque. The judge who fired him says he disrespected him and threatened him. In the following lines you will find the note that the Club Atlético San Sebastián has made public:

“Club Atlético San Sebastián wishes to express its sadness with this document last Saturday, June 23rd, at Mujer 10. Because of the serious accusation in the triathlon and the situation caused by its consequences. Atlético emphasizes its support for Basque and multilingualism, as shown by its communications, social networks and actions.

In short, the situation is as follows: there is a triathlete who was disqualified, in his own words, for speaking in Basque; and a judge from the Basque Triathlon Federation, who denies the previous one and declares that he disqualified for having “disrespected an officer”. And we also want to clarify that the Basque Triathlon Federation is responsible for the appointment and management of judges and officers.

On Saturday, after the participant pointed out what had happened and tried to clarify the situation, the organization tried to unite the two parties, but the Basque Federation cleaned up the problem at that time. However, the affected athlete has been in contact with the Club to denounce what happened. Finally, the SS Athletic Club has convened a meeting for tomorrow afternoon of all affected parties.”