The Ukrainian government is looking to block its athletes from sports competitions, particularly qualifying events for next year’s Paris Olympics, which readmit Russian athletes.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended on Tuesday that sports federations allow Russians and Belarusians to compete as neutral athletes without national symbols. Ukraine wanted to continue the full exclusion, which had been in place in most sports since shortly after last year’s Russian invasion.
Government minister Oleh Nemchinov said on Thursday that a decision had been taken only to enter events with no Russians involved, according to public broadcaster Suspilne.
No ruling was immediately published and it was not clear exactly how it would be implemented. The IOC recommends allowing Russians to compete as individuals but not as national teams. However, several Olympic sports run individual and team events together at a single location, as in gymnastics or fencing. International sports federations are not obliged to implement the IOC’s recommendations and most have yet to commit to readmitting Russian and Belarusian athletes.
There was no clarification on how Ukraine’s approach might affect tennis, where individual Russians and Belarusians already play on the men’s and women’s tours, and have played against Ukrainians. They remain barred from national team tennis events like the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.
Ukraine boycotted an Olympic judo qualifier last year when the sport’s governing body allowed Russians, including several from the country’s military, to take part as neutral athletes. Ukrainian officials have previously not ruled out boycotting next year’s Paris Olympics rather than compete against Russians.
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