Ukrainian politicians and athletes raised a fuss over the appearance Russian fans at the World Judo Championship in Doha with St. George ribbons. The organizers removed our compatriots from the stands and forbade them to attend competitions.
Athletes were weeded out firstThe International Judo Federation (IJF) had previously decided to allow Russian athletes to compete in tournaments in a neutral status. It was also about participation in the World Cup in Doha, which is taking place right now. In this sport, they listened to the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), while not everything went smoothly for our team.
Eight people were not allowed to participate in the world championship in Qatar because of the allegedly incorrect attitude towards the special military operation and the political system in general. The IJF somehow studied the social networks of these people and came to the conclusion that they have no place at international level competitions. The names of those suspended in the federation were not named and they did not explain in any way the principles by which Russians were divided into good and bad.
Nevertheless, the Russian team went to Qatar with 17 athletes. You can understand them, everyone wants to compete, and there, perhaps, it will be possible to qualify for the Olympics. Ukrainian athletes boycotted the World Cup in Doha because of the presence of Russians there. And this eventually led to a scandal.
We got to the fans on a Ukrainian tip The day before, our fans came to the stands of the arena in Qatar to support their compatriots. And they put on St. George ribbons in honor of Victory Day on May 9. They sat quietly, did not touch anyone. However, the cameramen grabbed the footage of them, which infuriated the Ukrainians. Olympic champion and member of the Verkhovna Rada Zhan Beleniuk on social networks urged the organizers to look into the situation. A similar post was published by Ukrainian skeletonist Vladislav Geraskevich.
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«The IOC and IJF showed no reaction to these three people with ribbons. But they are members of Russian propaganda. A humiliating act,» Geraskevich wrote.
Here the International Judo Federation had no choice. I had to react quickly, as a result, the Russians were asked to remove the St. George ribbons, but they refused. This led to the fact that our fans were simply kicked out of the stands and banned from attending competitions in the future. Unfortunately, we don’t have any levers of influence on such a vile provocation from Ukraine, as Sergei Soloveynik, President of the Russian Judo Federation (FDR), said in a commentary.
“People came to the hall as they want. But the organizers have the right, there is the IOC rule that there should not be any symbols on the territories of sports facilities. Everyone did their job. The fans had the right to come, I think, in whatever they want, but the organizers had the right to follow the rules of the IOC. The most important thing is not that. The main thing is that our athletes compete in these competitions, and the International Judo Federation allowed the Russians. This is important. Nothing like this happened, someone came with signs, someone was not allowed. The organizers have the right to do this, because they have the regulations of the International Olympic Committee,” Soloveichik said.
It is really important to participate in international tournaments, you can’t argue with the head of Russian judo here. You just need to understand that such provocations will now occur on a regular basis, and you need to be prepared for this. If Russia is admitted to the Olympic Games in Paris, then there is no way to insure against such cases. The IOC is well aware of this, which is why they are depicting vigorous activity on the return of our athletes, without taking any effective steps.