The war that she unleashed in Ukraine also directly affects sport. Public opinion demands that Russian athletes be excluded from international competitions. But not every sports federation has decided to exclude the Russians. Among them, for example, the International Gymnastics Federation, under the aegis of which the Qatar World Cup will be held in Qatar. The Ukrainians protested against the start of the representatives of the country that brutally attacked them, but FIG did not heed it and the protest was rejected.
The Russians won, the Ukrainian protest was rejected. “We have a responsibility to protect all our athletes”
“As the board of directors of a sports organization, we have the overriding responsibility to protect all of our athletes, including defending them from political pressure,” explained FIG President Morinari Watanabe. – Our thoughts are with members of the community from Ukraine. Sport is friendship and solidarity. We must show solidarity with our family members who are in despair and offer them a helping hand in securing the future, ‘the activist added.
This decision pleased the Russian coach – Valentina Rodionenko. And this despite the fact that her charges will compete under a neutral flag, and in the event of victory, they will not hear the national anthem. – From the psychological point of view, the condition of our gymnasts is very bad. There is a lot of internal tension – said Rodienko. The Ukrainians have announced that they will withdraw from these professions.
However, not only FIG decided to allow Russian athletes to compete. Ukrainian tennis players Marta Kostiuk and Lesia Cyrenko called on the tennis federations and the ITF to condemn Russia’s criminal actions and cancel the tournaments planned in Vladimir Putin’s homeland. The only effect is that athletes from the aggressor’s country can compete on the courts, but not under their flag.
The Formula 1 authorities have decided to cancel the Russian Grand Prix. However, it decided not to completely prohibit the participation in international and zone competitions by holders of licenses issued by Russian and Belarusian federations, which was one of the postulates of the FAU Ukrainian Automobile Federation. However, the ban will cover the national teams of Russia and Belarus.
Like the FIA, the reaction of the International Motorcycle Federation, which canceled the speedway Grand Prix of Russia, has so far reacted. However, there is still no clear declaration to exclude the Russians. He pressed, but it wasn’t enough yet.
On Monday, FIFA said it was suspending Russian teams from international competitions with UEFA. However, the authorities of world football had to be forced to make such a decision, because on Sunday FIFA, when informing about the imposition of sanctions on Russia, did not decide to throw Russian teams out of international competitions. There was, however, information about the change of the band’s name and the inability to perform under its own flag and anthem. The Russians were also supposed to play home games on neutral ground without the participation of the public.
Only a tough reaction from national unions, led by the Polish Football Association, forced the world federation to make such decisions. Many commentators described such behavior as embarrassment. Even after the statement is published, thunderbolts are falling on FIFA. “Once again, I picked up the statement that FIFA and the European Football Union (UEFA) presented on Monday. And it hit me again. Mostly because there is no word in it about the reason why both federations suspended Russia. the word “war”, the word “invasion” is not used –
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
