After the Ukrainian saber fencer Olha Kharlan scandal, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) canceled the mandatory handshake after the fight. According to La Repubblica, the FIE changed the rules of fencing during the conference on Thursday.

The traditional ritual at the end of the match with physical contact between athletes will be replaced by a greeting at a distance. This will allow Ukrainians not to approach Russians, even if they compete as neutral athletes, Italian media claims.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL, Kharlan defeated Russian Anna Smirnova in 1/32 of the 2023 World Championships in Milan. Our compatriot refused to shake hands with her opponent after the fight, who went crazy and refused to leave the track.

The representative of the Russian Federation filed a protest against the result of the duel, which was then rejected. The propaganda channel "Match TV" published a photo of the appeal that Anna Smirnova wrote on Olha. As a result, the FIE disqualified Kharlan from the World Cup-2023.

Our sabre player noted that she was simply shocked by the decision to exclude her from the tournament.

We note that Smirnova is not a "neutral" athlete, as required by the competition regulations. The brother of the representative of the aggressor country is a military man. She is very proud of him, which is evident from the joint photos.

People's deputy and Olympic wrestling champion Zhan Beleniuk said that initially there was an agreement between Khrlan and the FIE, which implied refusal to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova.

After the loud publicity in the world media, the IOC reacted to the scandal by making a sensational decision on the Ukrainian.

The head coach of the Ukrainian national fencing team Natalia Konrad later revealed what really happened to Kharlan.

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