Mechaal, dropped by 1,500 due to covid-19, was replaced by Fontes

The Royal Spanish Athletics Federation reported on Friday that Adel Mechaal has tested positive for covid-19 and will not be able to compete in the 1,500 event of the Eugene World Championships (USA), and his place will be taken by Ignacio Fontes, very upset on Thursday with his first absence.

RFEA has specified that Adel Mechaal, 31 years old and will make doubles at 1,500 and 5,000, will embark on this final test “as long as he recovers during the trip.

Ignacio Fontes criticized that a day before the announcement of the summoners he was part of the list for Eugene, but, suddenly, on Thursday morning, he did not appear on the official list of summoners of the Spanish team.

“An athlete’s coach couldn’t have known last night the parts of the team, where they told me I was, and this morning my name was removed from there,” Fontes wrote Thursday in a text posted to his officer. profile. from Twitter.

“The names of the athletes who have a fixed place must be written in the criteria so that others know the conditions we face. Athletes from outside Madrid and related to Blume are given treatment that is far from fair ”, added the Granada.

The athletes selected in the 1,500 meters for the World Championships were Mario García (Spanish champion), Mohamed Katir and Adel Mechaal, the first despite not meeting the minimum for the event, and Mechaal, despite finishing fourth, behind Fontes, at the Spanish Championships last weekend in Nerja (Málaga).

Fontes described his absence as “injustice” and added that “the worst thing” is he can’t “do anything to fight because that changes.”

RFEA announced on Thursday that Spain will attend the World Championships in Eugene with a delegation consisting of 55 athletes (33 men and 22 women).

The list is the fourth largest at World Cups after Seville 1999 (78 athletes), Tokyo 1991 (58) and London 2017 (56).