The Ukrainian government has asked its athletes to boycott competitions where they could find themselves competing against Russians or Belarusians.
On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee announced that it recommended that the International Federations reinstate Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, from which they have been banned since February 2022 and the start of the invasion of Ukraine. However, this decision did not concern the Olympic Games, for which a decision will be made “in due course”. Two days after this announcement by the IOC, the Ukrainian government replied, via the secretary general of the government Oleh Nemchinov, who spoke on television Thursday evening.
The politician explained that Ukrainian sportsmen had received an official order to boycott competitions involving Russian or Belarusian athletes, a decision taken on the proposal of the Minister of Youth and Sports and the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. Ukraine, former swordsman Vadym Gutzeit. All competitions are concerned, including those qualifying for the Paris Olympics. If the Ukrainian national federations did not respect this decision, then they would be deprived of their status.
Russian and Belarusian table tennis players back in May
This announcement comes at the same time as the International Table Tennis Federation authorized the reinstatement of Russians and Belarusians for international competitions from May, but not for the world championships, since they did not take part. to qualifications. “The ITTF is well aware of the potential dialogues that sport can create,” the Federation wrote in a press release. Table tennis has a long history of bringing people together even when political ties have been tenuous. It can build bridges, leading to better understanding between peoples, and open the door to building peace in ways that exclusion and division cannot. The ITTF reiterates its call for peace and unequivocally condemns the war in Ukraine. She stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and will continue to support the Ukrainian table tennis community. » The International Fencing Federation had been the first to reinstate Russians and Belarusians as well.