The Russians will not take part in two stages of the Grand Prix in foil and epee fencing
The Russians will miss two stages of the Foil and Epee Grand Prix in Istanbul and Shanghai. RIA Novosti was told about this by the President of the Russian Fencing Federation (FFR) Ilgar Mammadov.
“What kind of participation in international competitions can we talk about if we still don’t even have a list of athletes admitted by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to participate in competitions?” Mamedov shared. He stressed that the organization was unable to prepare the documents on time.
On May 11, it became known that the FIE banned Olympic champions Sofia Velikaya, Yana Yegoryan, Sofia Pozdnyakova, Olga Nikitina and nine other saber fencers from participating in competitions. “We consider it absolutely wrong to try to condition their participation in international competitions on some political requirements,” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian President, voiced the Kremlin’s position on this situation.
On March 10, the FIE allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international tournaments. It was expected that the return of the teams to the starts in a neutral status would take place no earlier than mid-April. However, the process was delayed due to the nuances of the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee.
Source: Lenta
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