Ukrainian athletes gained’t take part within the World Judo Championships in Qatar subsequent week as a result of the Russian and Belarusian groups are being allowed to compete beneath a impartial flag, the Ukrainian Judo Federation (UJF) mentioned Monday.
The International Judo Federation’s (IJF) resolution final week to permit Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete contradicts the place of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on impartial athletes, the Ukrainian governing physique mentioned, alleging that lots of them have been lively members within the Russian army which invaded Ukraine.
“The majority of the [Russian] team are athletes who are active servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, part of the army that attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and is still waging a brutal full-scale war on our territory,” the UJF mentioned in a statement on its web site.
In March, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes ought to be capable of compete within the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games as people beneath a impartial banner. Athletes beneath contract to these international locations’ armed forces, or who actively help the invasion of Ukraine, needs to be excluded, it mentioned.
The IJF on Saturday said it might enable Russian and Belarusian judokas to take part within the May 7-14 event as “individual neutral athletes.” The federation would “engage an independent, reputable company to perform background checks on all the individuals proposed for participation, including social media content, with specific reference to possible war propaganda,” it mentioned.
The IJF couldn’t instantly be reached for touch upon Monday.
Russian chief Vladimir Putin had his position as honorary president of the IJF suspended final 12 months within the days after he launched the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
