Ukraine demands suspension of Russian and Belarusian rowers from Olympic qualification
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine demands that the Russian and Belarusian rowing crews be suspended from Olympic qualification due to violations of IOC recommendations, claiming that their participation represents aggressor countries.
Ukraine demands that the crews of Russian and Belarusian rowers be suspended from Olympic qualification, UNN reports citing the NOC.
Details
The president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzeit, the acting Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Matviy Bidnyi, and the president of the Ukrainian Canoe Federation, Ihor Slivinskyi, sent a joint letter to the leadership of the IOC and the International Canoe Federation, pointing out a gross violation of the IOC's recommendations.
According to the NOC, the teams (twos) of Russian and Belarusian athletes - both men and women - have been allowed to participate in neutral status at the European Olympic Qualification in Canoeing, scheduled for May 8-9, 2024 in Szeged, Hungary. These participants represent the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus respectively: Vladislav Kravets, Dmitry Natynchik, Vitaly Ershov, Maxim Spesivtsev, Anastasia Dolgova, Svetlana Chernigovskaya, Mikhail Pavlov, Veronika Lianyuk, and Maria Kavalenka.
The IOC guidelines clearly state that teams of athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports cannot be admitted. In other sports, participation of teams (duets in rhythmic swimming or crews - pairs, fours in rowing) is not allowed.
The undersigned request that this information be taken into account and that all possible measures be taken within their competence to prevent the participation of teams of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, including European Olympic qualifiers and other Olympic qualifying tournaments.
"Ukraine's position remains unchanged that in the context of the ongoing unprecedented brutal military aggression of the Russian Federation with the support of the Republic of Belarus against Ukraine, representatives of the aggressor states have no right to be present in international sports arenas in any status," the statement said.
