Ukraine bars its national teams from events with Russians, Belarusians

KYIV: Ukraine barred its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events which include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said in a decree on Friday. Ukraine’s deputy sports minister, who signed off on the move, told Reuters in an interview that it was a “bad decision” but one that was better than the alternative. The decree, criticized by some Ukrainian athletes, comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) angered Kyiv by paving the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as neutrals despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are aware that... this is a bad decision, but in this case there are no good decisions. We are forced to choose between several bad decisions,” the minister, Matvii Bidnyi, said.

“We call on other (countries) to also... not take part in these competitions,” he said. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, initially using its ally Belarus as a staging ground for troops driving toward Kyiv.

The war, now in its 14th month, has killed tens of thousands, levelled cities and uprooted millions. Ukraine had previously warned its sports federations that it would strip them of their status as governing bodies if their athletes compete on the international stage with Russians and Belarusians. When asked, Bidnyi confirmed the Ukrainian ban referred to athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports.