Ukrainian politicians and athletes played the role of Russian fans at the World Judo Championships in Doha in St. George made a fuss about being seen with ribbons. The organizers removed our compatriots from the stands and banned them from participating in the competition.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) had previously decided to allow Russian athletes to compete in tournaments with neutral status. It was also about participation in the World Cup currently held in Doha. They listened to the advice of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in this sport, but not everything went well for our team.

Eight people were not allowed to participate in the world championship in Qatar, alleging wrongful attitude towards the special military operation and the political system in general. Somehow the IJF studied these people’s social networks and concluded that they had no place in international competitions. The names of those suspended in the federation were not disclosed, and they did not explain in any way the principles that separate the Russians into good and bad.

Despite this, the Russian team went to Qatar with 17 athletes. You can understand them, everyone wants to compete and maybe it will be possible to qualify for the Olympics there. Ukrainian athletes boycotted the World Cup in Doha due to the presence of Russians there. And this eventually led to a scandal.

Our fans came to the stands of the arena in Qatar the previous day and supported their compatriots. And in honor of Victory Day, May 9, they wore ribbons of St. George. They sat in silence, not touching anyone. But the cameramen captured footage that infuriated the Ukrainians. Olympic champion and Verkhovna Rada member Zhan Beleniuk urged the organizers to look into the situation on social networks. A similar article was published by Ukrainian skeletonist Vladislav Geraskevich.

Here the International Judo Federation had no choice. I had to react quickly, as a result the Russians in St. George were asked to remove their ribbons, but they refused. This led to our fans being kicked out of the stands and banned from participating in future matches. As the President of the Russian Judo Federation (FDR) Sergey Soloveynik said in a comment to RIA Novosti, unfortunately we no longer have any influence to influence such a vile provocation from Ukraine.

Participating in international tournaments is really important, you can not argue with the head of Russian judo here. You just need to understand and be prepared for such provocations to happen regularly now. If Russia is admitted to the Olympic Games in Paris, there is no way to be insured against such situations. The IOC is well aware of this, so they are describing a storm of activity for the return of our athletes without taking any effective action.