The International Fencing Federation (FIE) divided Russian athletes into «correct» and «wrong», not allowing our Olympic champions Sofia Velikaya, Yana Yegoryan and Sofia Pozdnyakova to compete. All these are the consequences of the humiliating recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), after which our country should think about whether it is so honorable now to be part of such an Olympic family.
Why was it allowed at all? In the spring of this year, the FIE published a statement on the admission of Russian athletes to all major tournaments in a neutral status. Then it seemed like a victory for Russia and a signal to other sports that it was time to stop the absurd suspensions. Moreover, in the same fencing, our country is one of the leaders, without which the level of competition has dropped significantly. However, soon the IOC issued recommendations for the admission of Russians, the implementation of which was initially impossible. The International Fencing Federation has been preparing the lists of Russian athletes for a long time, and only today it became known that all our great champions were not there.
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“All the strongest athletes were not allowed: Sofya Velikaya, Olga Nikitina, Veniamin Reshetnikov, Kamil Ibragimov, Yana Yegoryan, Sofia Pozdnyakova. Everyone who wants to participate in the Military World Games, everyone wears shoulder straps, these are the strongest athletes. All the best athletes in the world in other countries also belong to the army. There are those who are admitted, but these names are unknown to you,” said the head of the Russian Fencing Federation, Ilgar Mammadov.
Why then at all allowed? All this looks like an attempt to humiliate the Russian team, which without the strongest athletes will not be able to fight for the first places. At least at this stage. All our leaders are connected with the army, in particular, with CSKA. This is no secret to anyone. Actually, Mammadov is right when he says that the situation is the same in many other countries. This is how world sport works. However, in the FIE they deliberately dragged it out to the last and set such conditions under which participation in the international arena ceased to make sense for Russia.
It's time to decide Mamedov has already confirmed that the Russians who have received permission from the FIE will not participate in international competitions. And the head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov drew a line under what was happening, for whom this is a personal matter, because among the athletes without permission was his daughter Sofia, a two-time Olympic champion.
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"On the example of the International Fencing Federation, the very farce, which is the parameters of "return" Russians and Belarusians to the international arena and which we have announced since their appearance. The IOC imposes such criteria under which the participation of the vast majority of our athletes and almost all leaders of national teams in the selection for the Olympics and other competitions is unrealistic in practice. This, in fact, is a toolkit for a thinly veiled suspension, not to mention discrimination and double standards that are still applied on a national basis,” Pozdnyakov wrote in his Telegram channel.
Lawlessness in fencing can really become a prototype of how the so-called admission of Russians to the Olympic Games in Paris will be built, where we were allegedly admitted in a neutral status, but with a bunch of conditions. To go there, it will be necessary to go through all the circles of hell in the absence of any guarantees. You first betray the country, and we will think whether to let you in or not. Very soon, Russia will have to make a choice, although, judging by the statements of Pozdnyakov, the decision is already ready.