Ukraine bans its national teams from competing with Russian and Belarusian athletes amid war; International Olympic Committee decision had allowed participation of Russia and Belarus, with IOC describing criticism from Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic as 'deplorable'
Friday 14 April 2023 12:29, UK
Ukraine has barred its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said in a decree published on Friday.
The decision, criticised by some Ukrainian athletes, comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) angered Kyiv by paving the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, initially using its ally Belarus as a staging ground for troops driving towards Kyiv.
The war, now in its 14th month, has killed tens of thousands, levelled cities and uprooted millions.
Ukraine had previously warned its sports federations that it would strip them of their status as governing bodies if their athletes competed on the international stage with Russians and Belarusians.
Asked about the decree, the head of the Ukrainian Association of Football told Reuters the UAF would comply with government decisions.
Andriy Pavelko, the sports official, said the body was currently making inquiries with the ministry about which competitions would be affected, as this was not clear.
Ukraine's football team are due to play the next rounds of qualifiers for the 2024 European Championship in June.
Russia have been banned from competitions by European governing body UEFA due to the invasion, but Belarus are still participating, albeit in a different qualifying group to Ukraine.
"We are at war. We do not have the possibility to travel abroad without approval from the sports ministry," Pavelko said, referring to the wartime ban on able-bodied men aged between 18 and 60 leaving the country without government permission.
The decree published on the Sports Ministry's website overnight was signed by Deputy Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi.
Some Ukrainian athletes, including Olympian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych, criticised the ban saying it would lead to the destruction of Ukrainian sports.
"If Ukrainian representatives are not present at competitions, then we completely vacate the international sports grounds and give the Russian/Belarusian representatives the opportunity to promote their narratives and propaganda," he wrote on Twitter.
The IOC sanctioned Russia and Belarus last year but in late March it recommended allowing their athletes to compete as neutrals in international competition. It also opened the door to allow them to qualify for next year's Summer Olympics in Paris.
The IOC president, Thomas Bach, had described criticism levelled at the governing body by some European governments as "deplorable".
Last month, the IOC issued a set of recommendations for international sports federations that will allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to return.
Athletes from both countries have been banned from several Olympic sports since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Governments in Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic among others have been angered by Wednesday's IOC announcement, saying athletes from the two countries have no place in sport with the war still ongoing.
However, Bach has hit back at the criticism.
"It is deplorable to see that some governments do not want to respect the majority within the Olympic movement and all stakeholders, nor the autonomy of sport," Bach said.
"It is deplorable that these governments do not address the question of double standards. We have not seen a single comment on their attitude on the participation of athletes from countries of the other 70 wars and armed conflict around the world."
The announcement does not include the 2024 Paris Olympics, and a separate decision will be taken at a later date, but the latest IOC recommendations would allow for the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus to world sport.
"Government interventions have strengthened the unity of the Olympic movement," Bach added.
"It cannot be up to the governments to decide which athletes can participate in which competition. This would be the end of world sport as we know it today."
