Ukraine announces boycott against tournaments involving Russians and Belarusians

Ukrainian fencers and technical specialists will not participate in tournaments where athletes from Russia and Belarus are going to compete. This is how our representatives in the sport reacted to the decision of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to return the aggressor countries to its tournaments.

This is stated in a statement on the official website of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation (FFU). The organisation noted that it would involve athletes from other countries in the boycott of Russians and Belarusians.

"Today, on March 20, an urgent meeting of the FFU Presidium was held online. It was decided not only not to play matches at competitions of any level directly with Russian and Belarusian athletes, but also for our athletes, coaches, and referees not to participate in competitions in which Russian or Belarusian athletes will take part with the active involvement of athletes from other countries. They also discussed specific actions aimed at appealing the illegal and shameful decision of the FIE Congress to return the representatives of the Russian Federation and Belarus to international competitions," the federation said.

Earlier, Germany refused to host the World Fencing Cup because of Russia. It was joined by Finland, whose federation announced the cancellation of the tournament with the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the FIE has banned Ukrainian symbols from the Grand Prix in South Korea, forbidding support for our country. And the first vice-president of the Russian Fencing Federation (RFF), Oleg Lavrychev, visited the occupied territory of Ukraine once again and posed with the aggression symbol "Z" together with the Russian military.

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