Фото: facebook.com/UkraineMFA
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Minister of Youth and Sports Matvii Bidnyi issued a joint statement condemning the decision of the International and European gymnastics federations to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international competitions under national symbols.
The authors of the statement said such steps “contradict the fundamental principles of justice, solidarity, and peace on which international sport should be based.”
“Nothing has changed: Russia continues its illegal and unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, killing civilians every day and destroying Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. As a result of Russia’s war, 852 sports infrastructure facilities in Ukraine have already been destroyed or damaged, including sports schools, gyms, stadiums, and athlete training centers.
Ukrainian athletes continue to train under constant danger, air raid alerts, shelling, and limited access to sports infrastructure. Many athletes have been forced to leave their homes and have lost the opportunity for полноценная preparation,” they stressed.
Kyiv called the lifting of restrictions on Belarusian and Russian gymnasts a false signal of a “normalization” of the situation and urged the General Assembly, the international sports community, and national federations not to support the decision.
“Sport cannot be a platform for legitimizing aggressor states and their propaganda,” the statement, published on the website of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, said.