The Board of Directors discussed again today the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian government and the government of Belarus, deciding to suspend from competing at any event the Russian and Belarus Federations until further notice.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Board of Directors met to discuss the sanctions for Russia and Belarus. The IOC recommends “International Sports Federations and sports event organisers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions” in order “to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants”, therefore the following measures will be taken until further notice:
- based on the exceptional circumstances of the situation and considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian and Belarus government, the “Russian Rafting Federation (RRF)” and the “Belarus Rafting Federation” are suspended;
- WRF welcomes and appreciates the many calls for peace by athletes, sports officials and members of the worldwide River Community. The WRF admires and supports in particular the calls for peace by Russian athletes, therefore, the Russian and Belarus teams are allowed to compete at the international events at the following conditions:
- registered athletes do not cover any official role/position within the respective National Federation;
- the Russian and Belarussian national flags will not be displayed;
- the Russian and Belarussian anthems will be not played;
- Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, will be accepted only as neutral. Being the NFs suspended, registrations will be done directly by the Clubs;
- WRF confirms that it will not allocate any event to Russia or Belarus.
“We condemn war in all its forms and aim to support the Ukrainian rafting community in any way we can; our focus remains the wellbeing of our athletes”, says the Board. “Sport has the power to unite the world. We must use our position to send a strong message of peace”.
