Abensberg pulls out of Bundesliga due to stressful international agenda
Otto Kneitinger, the architect of Abensberg has struggled long with the decision, and … "still sleepless nights". But ultimately Kneitinger, his colleagues and sponsors realisedthat there is no alternative to the drastic step.
Kneitinger announced the news with the support of the Mayor of Abensberg Uwe Brandl and Peter Frese, President of the German Judo Federation (DJB). Abensberg will come back in the 2017 season, but now, in the Olympic Qualification, the path of the Bundesliga is too wide for many judoka who want to qualify for Rio. 23 Of the 30 athletes from the Bundesliga squad of the German record champions fight for one of the coveted starting places in Rio. Deadline pressure, which is caused by the clustering of qualifying competitions in international judo calendar, has a negative effect on the athletes. "We're breaking these guys with this stress" says Otto Kneitinger and adds an example: "Sebastian Seidl recently came from a tournament from Japan to Russia to fight in the Golden League. The poor guy had to make seven kilograms weight within two days, running with gloves in the heated hotel. “
Abensberg is qualified anyway for the Golden League edition, first of all as the home challengers. So the European tradition will remain.
