Russian national team boycotts European Championship over demands to condemn war in Ukraine

The Russian youth rowing team will not compete at the World Championships in Bulgaria. The National Rowing Federation of the aggressor country refused to sign a declaration condemning Russia's military invasion of Ukraine.

This was stated by NRF President Alexei Svirin to the propaganda news agency TASS. He called discriminatory the demands of the international federation (World Rowing) to demand that Russians oppose the war in our country.

"On Sunday, the Presidium of the NRF recommended that athletes not sign the declaration in the version proposed by World Rowing. Athletes and coaches supported the position of our federation. We sent the international federation a refusal to participate in the World Under-23 Championships. We suggested that World Rowing make adjustments to the text of the commitment in order to comply with the Olympic Charter and the integrity of the sport. In particular, we advocate the exclusion from the declaration of clauses related to the attitude of athletes to the special military operation in Ukraine, because this is politics, not sport," said Svirin.

Earlier, four-time Olympic champion Alexander Tikhonov dreamed of Russia's victory in the war against Ukraine, which should lead to the return of Russian athletes to international competitions.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Olympic athletics champion Yuri Borzakovsky explained Russia's suspension from international tournaments by saying "they are afraid of us, we are the best".

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