Fencing stirs the waters of the sport after admitting Russian and Belarusian athletes

As happened earlier in the year with boxing, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) has aroused strong reactions in international sport with the decision to authorize the return to their competitions Russians and Belarusiansa measure effective from the second half of April.

The most immediate reaction has been the resignation of Germany, Sweden and Finland to organize both competitions and a similar action is expected from Poland, where the measure would enter into force. Prior to the decision of the FIE, poznań was planned to house the world Cup next month.

At the moment it has not been confirmed if the European country remains standing as the venue for the sporting event.

At the time, the ukrainian federation has announced that will not participate in competitions in competitions to which fencers of Russiainvading country of Ukraineand his ally belarus.

The president of the FIE is the oligarch Alishr Usmanov, although he suspended himself from functions after being one of the businessmen sanctioned by the European Union for the invasion of Ukraine. the greek Emmanuel Katsiadakis He holds the position on an interim basis.

Under his mandate, an extraordinary congress of the FIE approved the past March 10th by a vast majority readmission in fencing competitions of individual athletes, teams, referees and managers from both countries.

The first competition in which I could participate would be that of Polanda country bordering Ukraine that will also organize in June the III European Games. Neither Russians nor Belarusians will participate in this appointment despite the fact that the Association of Olympic Committees of the Continent (COE) supports the decision of IOC to study their reinstatement as neutrals.

The continental associations of Asia and of Africa they have already voted in favor of readmission. In fact, the inclusion of Russians and Belarusians in the asian games September in Hangzhou (China) is one of the ways studied to facilitate its classification to the Paris 2024 Olympic Gamesif approved by the IOC.

Since last Thursday they have been disputed in New Delhi the women’s world boxing championships, in which Russians and Belarusians participate. Like the fencing federation, the boxing federation is also chaired by a Russian, Umar Kremlev.

Countries like Ukraine, USA, Britain and Ireland they gave up competing as a protest measure.

This conflict, which the president of the IOC, the German Thomas Bachhas defined on several occasions as a dead end, was studied last week by the new Advisory Committee of the Olympic body for Human rightswho met for the first time.

This working group “had the opportunity to hear the opinion of the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights around the status of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport in the context of the illegal war that Russia is waging against Ukraine”.