Germany cancels World Cup occasion after Russia, Belarus readmitted

Reuters
 — 

Germany’s fencing federation has canceled a ladies’s foil World Cup occasion after the game’s international governing physique (FIE) reversed a ban on athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus, it stated on Thursday.

Athletes from the 2 international locations had been banned from many worldwide competitions after Russia invaded Ukraine final February in what Moscow calls a “special military operation.”

More than 60% of countries voted to permit Russians and Belarusians to renew competing in FIE occasions ultimately week’s extraordinary congress.

German federation (DFB) President Claudia Bokel, a workforce epee silver medallist on the 2004 Olympics, stated the choice had triggered “heated discussions.”

“Our solidarity goes to the people of Ukraine who are suffering from the war of aggression,” Bokel stated. “The German Fencing Federation accepts final Friday’s resolution.

“We now want to give a clear signal that we would have liked a different result and that we still see a large number of open implementation questions from the world federation, which make it impossible to carry out the tournament.”

The competitors was scheduled for May 5-7 in Tauberbischofsheim. Fencing’s qualifying course of for subsequent 12 months’s Paris Olympics is because of start in April.

Russian Fencing Federation President Ilgar Mammadov stated he was not stunned by the DFB’s resolution.

“This is not the first country, others will refuse,” Mammadov, a double Olympic gold medallist in workforce foil, was quoted as saying by Russian information company TASS. “I cannot criticize my colleagues.

“Of course, we expected such decisions. Those countries that cannot hold competitions on equal terms will not hold them. There will be others, they are in large numbers.”