Dave Castro -- the creator and director of the CrossFit Games -- is apologizing to Luka Đukić and his family following the death of his brother, Lazar ... admitting he made a mistake with comments he made after the tragedy.
Castro released the statement Thursday night on his Instagram page ... responding to Luka's lengthy statement about how things played out in the hours after Lazar drowned during an event -- specifically how Castro claimed the Games would continue with the Đukić family's blessing.
"I should never have said that the decision to continue the CrossFit Games in August was 'blessed' by their family," Castro said. "At the time, the decision was made to continue the Games and allow our athletes to compete -- and we respected those athletes who decided to withdraw."
"This decision was made by CrossFit and I never intended to put the weight of this decision on Luka, the Đukić family or our CrossFit athletes," Castro said.
Castro ended his statement by saying he made a mistake ... and that he "regrets any pain I've caused."
Castro apologized to the family, but did not respond to Đukić's claim the volunteers were "unequipped" and proper attempts to save Lazar were not made during the fatal incident.
As we previously reported, Lazar died during the swimming portion of last month's competition in Texas.
He was just 28 years old.