Alexander Konakov, the head coach of the Russian national sambo team, told Russia's official state news agency TASS earlier this week that Mukhtar Gamzaev, Ezher Enchinov and Dmitry Samoilov had all been unable to come into the host country.

They were due to compete in the men's 57 kilograms, 62kg and 82kg categories respectively.

Five members of the Russian delegation for the event were also reportedly denied entry visas by the Greek consulate.

Eliseev, who is also President of the Russian Sambo Federation and vice-president of the International Sambo Federation (FIAS), had initially said the decision would be protested.

But speaking to insidethegames today, the Russian admitted it was something that "just happened".

"This issue isn’t related to any politics," Eliseev said.

"This is just a technical situation.

"Some people were running out of time to deposit the documents to demand their invitation first and then they were running out of time to receive the visa itself.

“We are very upset that some athletes didn’t get the visa, but it’s not something that was organised specifically."

Asked if he is confident that the same scenario will not occur in the future, Eliseev told insidethegames: "I’m not sure 100 per cent that it won’t repeat, but we will inform all the countries, all the athletes to deposit passport data earlier in order to have a normal period and be in time to deposit the document to submit for visas."

FIAS President Vasily Shestakov told TASS that the world governing body would launch its own investigation into the matter.

He also said FIAS would provide all the necessary support to the three athletes affected.

The incident came just a couple of months after Mikhail Degtyarev, chairman of the State Duma’s Committee for Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs, called the denial of United States visas for Russian wrestlers hoping to compete at the United World Wrestling Men’s Freestyle Wrestling World Cup in Iowa a "blow to global sports".

It came after Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova had claimed the US Embassy in Moscow refused to interview Russian wrestlers who had qualified for the competition - a prerequisite for obtaining entry visas to America.

The situation surrounding the Russian wrestlers followed an increase in tensions between the US and Russia after the Russian Government's alleged involvement in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the British city of Salisbury in March.

The 2018 European Sambo Championships bring together the continent's leading athletes to battle it out for honours across 27 different categories.

The three-day event is set to conclude tomorrow.

Last year’s European Sambo Championships were held in Belarus’ capital Minsk, where Russia claimed 18 of the 27 gold medals on offer.

Russia is very much the dominant force in sambo, which originated in the Soviet Union in the 1920s when soldiers of the then-Soviet Army developed their own hand-to-hand combat technique.