“Russia and Belarus compete?”…Ukrainian judo players withdrew from world championships

Amid the World Judo Championships scheduled to be held in Qatar this month, Ukrainian athletes have announced their intention to withdraw. This is because the International Judo Federation (IJF), which hosts the tournament, allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as members of neutral countries.

According to Reuters on the 1st (local time), the Ukrainian Judo Federation announced that Ukrainian judoka will not participate in the World Judo Championships, which will be held from the 7th to the 14th in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The IJF allowed Russian and Belarusian players to compete as neutral countries, but this decision is unacceptable.

This IJF decision seems to be in accordance with the guidelines for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Qualifiers presented on March 28 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). At the time, the IOC allowed athletes from the two countries to participate in the Paris Olympics qualifiers as individuals and neutral countries, not as national representatives. However, this was subject to the condition that it did not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine and that it had nothing to do with the military.

The Ukrainian Judo Federation said in a statement that day, “The majority of the Russian national team are active-duty soldiers.” “The IJF made a decision contrary to the IOC’s recent recommendation. Therefore, I have decided not to participate in the World Championships in Doha.”

Famous Ukrainian judoka Daria Bilodid also raised her voice of criticism. She is Billo Didd’s champion in the women’s 48kg class at the 2019 World Judo Championships and a bronze medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. “Russian athletes participate in the World Judo Championships,” Bilo Didid wrote on her Instagram account. “It is unacceptable for athletes from terrorist countries who kill Ukrainians every day to participate in international competitions.” “It goes against the values ​​of the sport,” she added.메이저놀이터

The IJF and the Russian Judo Federation have yet to make any statements on the Ukrainian Judo Federation statement.

Meanwhile, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of last year, athletes from Russia and Belarus, a helper country, were sanctioned from several international competitions. Afterwards, as the war lasted longer than a year, the IOC allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Olympic qualifiers as individuals and as members of a neutral country, saying that discrimination against athletes based on nationality was against the purpose of the Olympics. Regarding this, IOC President Thomas Bach said, “It is effective for athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports to participate in international competitions.