Dzambolat Tedeev, the head coach of the squad, told Russia's official state news agency TASS they were removed from the plane because one of their delegation's masks had "slipped".

Tedeev claimed "half the plane were sitting without masks" - which are mandatory on the majority of planes worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic - and suggested the team may have been deliberately "provoked" and picked on.

Athletes, including double Olympic and four-time world champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev, were forced to spend the night at Schipol Airport after the incident, before arriving in the Norwegian capital in time for the Championships, which begin today.

"At first I didn’t understand what it was - half the plane were sitting without masks, and we were in masks," Tedeev told TASS.

"One person’s mask slipped, and that was the reason why they took us off the plane.

"They came exactly to us, they started taking our guys off the plane - I won’t sit in my seat, I can’t leave my team. 

"Even if they took one of them [my team], I would have gone with him.

"I’ll point out that coming out of the plane the passengers gave their approval to the cabin crew and special services. 

"'You took them away, well done'.

"Where is that hatred from?

"And when we left the plane there were already 40 people with guns and tasers standing there. 

"We left calmly, without even trying to fight.

"Where did these 40 people come from with weapons in their hands, if this wasn’t a provocation?"