After the start of a full-scale war, which Russia, with the assistance of Belarus, unleashed against Ukraine, many international sports federations banned athletes from the aggressor countries from participating in competitions under their auspices.
However, it was not possible to completely isolate Russia and Belarus from international sports.. Despite the numerous atrocities of Russian invaders in Ukraine, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach stands up for Russian and Belarusian athletes.
Recently, he said that the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians from competitions violates the principle of "
After that, the International Judo Federation allowed the Russians to Belarusians to participate in the Grand Slam tournaments in a neutral status, which caused outrage among Ukrainian athletes. In particular, the position of the head of the IOC was harshly criticized by the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling Jean Beleniuk..
And now there is a reaction to all these events of the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Vadym Gutsait. He stated that Ukrainian athletes are ready to boycott competitions, to which representatives of Russia and Belarus will be admitted..
" Held online meetings with All-Ukrainian federations for Olympic and non-Olympic sports. We discussed further joint actions to remove athletes from aggressor countries from participating in international competitions.
The full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine has already claimed the lives of more than 70 Ukrainian athletes and coaches. Representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus are looking for an opportunity to express themselves in the international arena, speaking under a neutral white flag. It is unacceptable. Athletes from these countries cannot participate in international competitions either under their own or under neutral flags, as they tacitly agree with the killing of Ukrainians or openly support it..
He suggested that the presidents of all-Ukrainian federations apply to international sports federations to prevent such cases. In case of admission of athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus to participate in competitions, Ukrainian athletes are ready to block their performances and boycott such competitions. The world has no right to forget about the war that Russia started against Ukraine. He also suggested inviting the presidents of international federations to Ukraine. We will show Irpen and Bucha, Kharkiv and Chernihiv. They should know how Ukrainian athletes feel when they go to the start next to the representatives of the aggressor countries.
The sports community is united in its desire to make sport a lever of influence on the world sports movement in the fight against the aggressor and preventing athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus from participating in international competitions. We must jointly increase pressure on the occupiers in order to restore peace in Europe as soon as possible,"
Recall that the former head coach of the Ukrainian national team Andriy Shevchenko, together with 1 + 1 media, is launching a campaign calling for a boycott of Russian athletes who support the invasion of Russian troops into Ukrainian territories or have not voiced their position.