Joost Luiten blasts latest dramatic (!) twist in Olympic golf drama: "It's b-------"

Dutch golfer Joost Luiten has lashed out after he was denied a place again in the Olympic golf tournament despite winning a court case.

Ben Smith

10 Jul 2024

Dutch golfer Joost Luiten is understandably incandescent with rage after he was yet again denied a place in the Olympic golf tournament.

Luiten hit the headlines earlier this month after it was revealed that despite finishing 40th in qualifying (comfortably inside the top-60 cut off), the Dutch Olympic Committee deemed he had 'no reasonable chance' of bringing a medal home for his country.

Fellow golfer Darius van Driel was also told he wasn't good enough and therefore wouldn't be in the field at Le Golf National in Paris later this year.

Luiten took matters into his own hands, submitting a legal challenge to the Dutch Olympic Committee.

The verdict came down in his favour and he was absolutely delighted to be reinstated to the Games.

At the time, he revealed he wasn't sure if van Driel would prevail in his bid to be included.

But now in a bombshell dramatic twist, it can be confirmed that Luiten won't be able to compete afterall.

That's because the International Golf Federation already re-allocated his space before the outcome of his legal challenge was known.

A statement from the IGF read: "When the 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 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."

"It's b-------"

Luiten is understandably angry and has reached out to the six-time DP World Tour winner for comment.

@Handicap54 has managed to get some reaction from Luiten, and he described the decision as 'BS'.

"I have done nothing wrong," he said. "Because of mistakes and decisions of others I am the one that is getting shafted."

Later, Luiten took to Instagram where he posted: "I can't take The Olympics (IOC) serious anymore!

"If they say the fundamentals of the Olympic Games are about INTEGRITY, FAIRPLAY and RESPECT you are all lies!

"Even though I have qualified by their own rules and entered before the entry deadline, they don’t let me play!

"They don’t take the Dutch law as their jurisdiction and my spot in The Olympics had already been given away to somebody else because the @NOCNSF withdrew me early! Now they don't want to give me my spot back!!!

"I don't see any fair play or respect from the IOC, so how can they say The Olympic Games are built on those fundamentals??

"It is all POLITICS and all they care about is that they have their own party at the Olympics with their mates!!"

You can understand why Luiten is rightly furious.

The men's Olympic golf tournament will be played over 1-4 August.