Head of the Russian Curling Federation Dmitry Svishchev told how the organization is coping with Russia’s sporting isolation.
Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called on national federations not to hold international competitions in Russia and Belarus. In addition, the IOC Executive Committee has recommended that federations withdraw Russians and Belarusians from participating in the competition.
– We are not in the worst situation, because our federation has retained its place within the International Curling Federation. We even retained the right to vote. But our participation in the European and World Championships has been temporarily suspended. We hold several tournaments in Russia, in which foreigners participate, now our guys are planning to go to competitions in Serbia. In dialogues with foreign colleagues, it is still possible to maintain an unstable equilibrium. This, alas, does not save our guys – for athletes the most important thing is participation in competitions. We are trying to do something, but not everything is working.
On a personal level, we invite athletes from different countries to our tournaments. Of course, they are no longer as active as before. We noticed that even those who expressed the desire to come refused at the last moment, because the national federations put pressure on them: partly by persuasion, partly by intimidation. Forbid guys to participate in our competitions. I didn’t think that was possible in curling – it’s a very smart sport. But that’s how it is, and, of course, there is no queue for our competitions,” Svishchev told .
Source : MatchTV
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