The competition will take place in Poland in the summer of 2023
European Games 2023 will pass without participation Russian and Belarusian athletes. This was announced by the people’s deputy, head of the subcommittee of the Verkhovna Rada on sports Olga Saladukha.
“European Games 2023 will be held without Russians and Belarusians! And this is very good news for the entire sports community. The decision of the European Olympic Committees is fully in line with the spirit and letter of the international sports movement fighting violence, aggression and war. States that produce evil cannot be part of it.”
“Recall that it was Belarus that hosted the last European Games in 2019, while Ukraine then took third place in the overall medal standings. Now Lukashenka’s regime has turned the country into a pariah and deprived dozens of Belarusian athletes of the opportunity to show and realize themselves.
For Belarus today, the only way out is to remove the dictator and get rid of the Russian troops that actually occupied the country. I believe that this will definitely happen and, perhaps, much faster than we think.
In the meantime, we continue the work begun on February 24. We are promoting new sports sanctions against the aggressor and making sure that the existing ones are observed.”
Earlier, the President of the European Olympic Committees, Spyros Kapralos, said that Russian and Belarusian athletes would not take part in the 2023 European Games. The head of the EOC noted that under the current conditions, their admission to the competition is impossible.
Recall that the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine Serhiy Bubka sent a letter to Kapralos and members of the EOC Executive Committee with a call to prevent the return of athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions.
Earlier, the IOC upheld sanctions against Russian athletes. At international competitions there should be no Russian flags, colors and symbols, international federations should not hold competitions in Russia, said IOC communications director Mark Adams.
In February, the IOC recommended that international federations remove the Russians from the competition due to Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine.
The Third European Games will be held in Krakow from 21 June to 2 July 2023.
Source: Sportarena
