State Duma Deputy Dmitry Svishchev spoke about the position of Ukrainian sports officials who opposed the arrival of athletes from Russia in Kiev for the European Championship in mixed martial arts (MMA). The correspondent of “Lenta.ru” informs about it.
Svishchev noted that he considers the right initiative to deprive Ukraine of the right to host the tournament if it is not ready to accept Russian fighters. “Such things are unacceptable in the modern sports world. If the host country is unable to ensure the safety of the athletes, then it should not assume any obligation to organize the competition. This means that the tournament must be postponed. They cannot ensure safety – let them not submit applications for holding championships. In any sport, ”he reacted.
Svishchev draws attention to the fact that goods from Russia are bought in Ukraine. “At the same time, they do not want to see our athletes. Contradictory things, ”he added. “Sport should remain outside of politics. In general, a simple, banal situation. Easily solvable. The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians have a neighborly attitude towards Russia. There are some individual characters who are categorically against another country. So we have those too. There are such people everywhere, we should take it calmly, ”the parliamentarian concluded.
Thus, he endorsed the reaction of the Global Mixed Martial Arts Association (GAMMA). Earlier on October 13, the organization noted that they consider it possible to postpone the European Championship due to Ukraine’s refusal to let Russian athletes in.
The head of the Ukrainian federation, Vladimir Teslya, claimed that Kiev was ready to host the European Championship, which it was decided to postpone from Georgia due to the epidemiological situation. The functionary stressed that Ukraine has only one requirement – there should be no Russians at the tournament. Tesla referred to GAMMA’s consent to such a measure.
The European MMA Championship is scheduled to take place from 5 to 9 November.
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