Ukraine bans national athletes from competing alongside russians

The Ukrainian government adopted a decision prohibiting Ukrainian athletes from competing in tournaments where athletes from the russian federation or belarus will be represented.

The Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (Ukrainian government – ed.), Oleh Nemchinov, announced this on the air of the Yedyni Novyny telethon.

The proposal to ban Ukrainian athletes from participating in competitions where there will be russia's representatives came from the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzeit.

Based on this, a protocol decision was adopted by the Government of Ukraine.

This decision applies to all competitions, including qualifying competitions for the 2024 Olympics.

At the moment, this "protocol decision" has not yet been published on the website of the Government of Ukraine, and it is not yet known how exactly it will work.

"At the meeting of the Government, a protocol decision was adopted on the proposal of colleague Gutzeit that we participate in qualifying competitions [for the 2024 Olympics] only where there are no russians. Accordingly, participation outside these criteria can be grounds for depriving federations of national status," Nemchinov said.

This decision is the response of the Ukrainian Government to the updated recommendations of the IOC regarding the participation of athletes from russia and belarus in competitions.

Oleh Nemchinov also added that athletes should not think about their careers in the context of boycotting competitions but about their saved lives.

"What should the athletes themselves do? You know, I wouldn't wish it on anyone… Yesterday I was at another funeral of a good friend of mine who devoted more than 20 years to athletics and died in the Kharkiv direction. And who left three children.

He voluntarily went to the second war [the russian full-scale war launched on February 24, 2022 – ed.]. And he did not serve in the kitchen, so to speak. That is, he was in combat units.

So, I want to say to our fellow athletes who are worried that because of the IOC measures and the admission of russians or belarusians to the competition, and accordingly Ukrainians will not be able to participate, their careers will be broken, or something else. But your life and your children's will be saved," Nemchinov summarized.

It should be noted that according to the decision of the IOC Executive Committee, federations are recommended to return athletes from russia and belarus for competitions in neutral status, however, only in individual competitions, not in teams.

However, competitions in individual and teams can be held at the same start. At this time, it is still being determined whether the ban will extend to the entire tournament.

For reference:

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 28 proposed enabling russian and belarusian athletes to participate in worldwide events as neutral individuals while stating that the members of the board will come to a decision "at the suitable time" on whether to permit them to compete at the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Regardless of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the board revealed that during almost four months of talks, it became evident that the "vast majority" of Olympic Movement stakeholders "want a path to be opened for the competitions under their sole authority." Still, they also asked for recommendations if they choose to admit athletes from russia or belarus. The suggestions involve permitting russians and belarusians to compete as individual neutral athletes and prohibiting teams from the two countries. The board also suggested barring athletes who actively support the war and athletes who are "contracted to the russian or belarusian military."

Lithuania has already called the IOC decision "disappointing," with the President of the state and the Minister of Education, Science, and Sport expressing their regret on the decision.