The World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) has decided to suspend the arm wrestlers and federations of Russia and Belarus, extending its support to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s decision to ban athletes from the two countries last month, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the aid of Belarus, and the ongoing war between the two countries.
World Armwrestling Federation joins the IOC in support of banning Russia and Belarus
Back in late February, Russia launched a full scale military operation in Ukraine, with support from Belarus, which has made its impact on all aspect of human activities, including sport. Days after the invasion, which eventually escalated into war, the IOC decided to impose sanctions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, followed by the governing bodies of several sports taking up similar actions.
Now, the WAF has made its decision to ban the arm wrestling federations of the two countries, which they revealed via an official statement on 19th March on their website. As per their decision, all Russian and Belarusian arm wrestlers, coaches, referees and officials will be barred from taking part in all arm wrestling events organized by WAF and its member orgs.
Aside from that, no international arm wrestling events will be hosted in the two countries, as well as any arm wrestler selected by either Russia or Belarus to represent them will also be banned from competing in other countries.
“The World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) Executive Board condemns the Russian and Belarusian invasion of Ukraine and decided to impose sanctions to the Russian and Belarusian Armwrestling Federations,” read the official statement from WAF. “The WAF fully support the public statement of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and stands in full solidarity with the entire international sport federations movement to stop war and restore peace.”
“The World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) confirm its solidarity with the Ukrainian armwrestlers and their families,” the statement added.
Earlier, Russian arm wrestling icon Vitaly Laletin, who was set to face Alex Kurdecha in the upcoming King Of The Table 3 on 26th March, was replaced by American arm wrestler Dave Chaffee.
Highlights:
- The World Armwrestling Federation bans Russia and Belarus from all arm wrestling events, as well as bans the pullers from the two countries from its events
