The ISSF Executive Committee is the latest governing body to sanction a ban on Russia and Belarus, approving the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to prohibit the two nations from competing in all of its competitions and events. The decision was taken in a committee meeting which took place in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.
The ISSF Executive Committee condemns Russia and Belarus for breaching the “Olympic Truce”
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the aid of Belarus, the IOC has been appealing to multiple sports governing bodies all over the world to omit Russian and Belarusian athletes from participations in their events but let the governing bodies have their final say and the shooting commitee has endorsed the appeal.
“The ISSF Executive Committee supports the IOC recommendation published on February 28th, 2022 with the aim to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and to ensure the safety of all participants. The ISSF fully supports any policy against wars as well as the IOC recommendations to not allow athletes from the Russian Federation and Belarus to take part in the ISSF Championship until further notice,” an official statement from the committee read.
Aside from ratifying the IOC’s recommendation, the committee has also condemned Russia and Belarus for breaching the “Olympic Truce”, the ISSF’s unwavering support the war-torn people of Ukraine, as well as its athletes and shooting fraternity along with offering humanitarian aid. It has also backed the decision of the ESC to cancel the 2022 European Championship which was set to take place in Russia.
“The ISSF Executive Committee concluded that it will closely monitor the situation and will take further measures in collaboration with the IOC in accordance with the ISSF Constitution and the Olympic Charter, if needed,” the statement added.
Earlier, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) had also put an indefinite ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from taking part in FIG competitions as well as FIG-sanctioned competitions.
The FIG also decided to take disciplinary actions against Russian artistic gymnast Ivan Kuliak for showing the “Z” symbol on his vest on the podium at the Apparatus World Cup in Doha. The letter, which doesn’t exist in the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, has been used by Russian military to identify their tanks and vehicles.
Highlights:
- The ISSF Executive Committee has sanctioned the IOC’s recommendation of banning Russia and Belarus from competing in any of their shooting events
