Executive Director of the Russian Biathlon Union Alexander Pak told Match that after being suspended from international competitions, the RBU allowed Belarusians to participate in Russian competitions at their own risk, because all these issues are coordinated with the Ministry of Sports.
Belarusian biathletes participate in the Championship and the Cup of Russia outside the ranking. If these athletes win the race, the organizing committee organizes two award ceremonies, and Belarusians do not receive medals and the national anthem is not played.
— Is the anthem at the awards ceremony the responsibility of the RBU or not?
– No, this is the responsibility of the organizing committee, which must lead the award ceremony in accordance with the competition regulations.
— Will the regulations for the next season stipulate that the national anthem of Belarus can be played?
— As soon as the Ministry of Sports gives such recommendations, the regulations will be amended. Do you think we are against the Belarusian anthem at the awards ceremony? For us, Belarusians are not just brothers and sisters. For us, Belarusians are the same participants in the competition as Russians. We all agree, but there are regulations. At the Russian Championships, the Russian anthem is played, at international competitions, the anthem of the winning country is played. In Tyumen, the organizing committee decided to include the Belarusian anthem. We are all for it.
– But the SBR may recommend doing so.
— The Ministry of Sports is not located on another planet, they see the problem there and all the regulations for our competitions are approved by the Ministry of Sports. There are regulations, period. For example, here we move away from it, here a little more, then there again, and in the end what happens? Chaos.
“You just don’t want to argue with the Ministry?”
— When the Belarusians and I were suspended from international competitions, we decided to create the Commonwealth Cup, where the Russian team and the Belarusian team compete. They created it not because they too were suspended, but because it is a country close to us, because we have the same problem, because they have interesting athletes, because everyone needs competition, that’s all. Then, when we allowed Belarusians to participate in the Russian Cup and Championship without permission from the Ministry of Sports, we did it at our own risk and carried out double ranking.
Let’s imagine that in the KHL, theoretically, the Chinese team will win the regular season, will they become the champion of Russia and will the Chinese anthem play? No. The Russian team will be first in the standings and the Russian anthem will be played. If the Ministry of Sports changes our regulations, we will only be happy about it. But I think it is not the prerogative of the Ministry of Sports, but the decision is even higher,” Pak told .
Russian and Belarusian biathletes have been suspended from international competitions since February 2022.
The biathlon season will end next week in Murmansk. Watch live broadcasts of the fourth stage of the Alfa-Bank Commonwealth Cup on TV channels of the Match outfit from April 12. You can also follow the progress of the races on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
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