The Ukrainian Fencing Federation (FFU) is preparing a protest against the decision to disqualify Olga Harlan from the 2023 World Championships in Milan. The appeal will not be considered immediately, which means that the Beijing 2008 gold medallist will not be able to continue competing in individual events at the tournament.

FFU President Mykhailo Ilyashev said this on the air of the United News telethon. He noted that the organisation's main goal now is to get sanctions lifted against Harlan so that she can help the Ukrainian national team play in a team tournament where there are no representatives of the aggressor country.

"We fully support Olga Harlan in this situation. We are preparing a protest and will appeal this decision. Because the judge who directly judged the fight did not show a red card. It was later that the underhanded games began and this disqualification appeared. And it was after the judge for the next fight had already appeared. We hope that it will be reviewed in the coming days. But we are not talking about Olga's return to the tournament. We will seek to have the disqualification lifted, because this red card will make it impossible for her to participate in the team tournament," Ilyashev said.

We would like to remind you that Olga Harlan defeated Russia's Anna Smirnova in the round of 32 of the 2023 World Cup in Milan. After the fight, our compatriot refused to shake hands with her opponent, who staged a real circus, refusing to leave the track. The Russian representative lodged a protest against the result of the duel, which was rejected.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the propaganda TV channel Match TV published a photo of a denunciation that Anna Smirnova wrote against Olga Harlan at the Fencing World Cup 21023.

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