Ukraine Withdraws From World Judo Championships Over Russian Soldier Presence
Ukraine on Monday pulled its team from the World Judo Championships in Qatar over the presence of Russian athletes it argued were active soldiers. The International Judo Federation (IJF) gave judokas from Russia and Belarus the green light to compete at the May 7-14 championships in Doha on the proviso they compete as individual neutral athletes. But the Ukrainian judo federation said in a statement that "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".


