The Russian women’s saber team, Olympic champions in Rio 2016 after beating Ukraine in the final. TORU HANAI
A petition opposing the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes has collected the signatures of more than 300 fencers.
More than 300 fencers, retired or active, called on Tuesday in an open letter addressed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to “maintain (its) suspension recommendationsagainst Russian and Belarusian athletes, authorized in early March to return to international tournaments. “On behalf of over 300 current and retired fencers, we urge you, as the governing body, to uphold your recommendations for suspensions from the Russian and Belarusian Fencing Federations and their National Olympic Committees, and to ensure that the Federation international fencing (FIE) follow your instructions“Wrote these athletes in a letter addressed to Thomas Bach, President of the IOC, and Emmanuel Katsiadakis, Acting President of the FIE.
This statement follows the decision, taken on March 10 by the FIE, to reinstate the Russians and Belarusians from April – start of the qualification period for the Olympic Games in Paris-2024 -, “subject to possible future recommendations/decisions of the IOC“. The IOC Executive Board is meeting from Tuesday in Lausanne to clarify its position on this possible return, while the athletes of the two countries have been excluded from international competitions for more than a year and the invasion of Ukraine by the Russia.
Among the signatories of this letter signed by “Global Athlete“, a group of sportsmen outside the traditional sports institutions which was born at the time of the doping scandals concerning Russia. We find the American Lee Kiefer, Olympic champion in foil in Tokyo in 2021, the French Manon Brunet, bronze medalist in saber behind two shooters competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), or even the Olympic champion (2008) , Ukrainian Olga Kharlan.
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“With total disregard against the opinion of the athletes, you allowed the return of Russia and Belarus to FIE competitions“, denounce these shooters. “To date, Russian aggression towards Ukraine has caused the death of 232 athletes, the destruction of 343 sports facilities, the exile of 40,000 athletes and the absence of sports facilities for 140,000 young athletes“, they add. According to them, the suspension must continue and include the qualifying competitions for the Olympic Games as well as the Games themselves, “until Russia has completely withdrawn from Ukrainian territory”.