“We will not encourage hatred” Failed blackmail left Ukraine without competition

Ukrainian sport is going through hard times now. Not all athletes can train normally and perform at major tournaments. But even those who are ready to compete on the international stage are now at risk of forced isolation due to the behavior of their sports officials.

Ukrainian judokas also got into such a situation. The local federation delivered a cruel ultimatum to the international, trying to achieve the complete removal of Russia from all tournaments. However, the blackmail was not successful.

Now the Ukrainians themselves will be left without competition?

“In judo we will not encourage division and hatred”

Now it is rather problematic to see representatives of our country on the international arena due to their total exclusion from competitions. However, in the case of judo, everything turned out differently: our federation itself announced a boycott of visiting tournaments, without waiting for sanctions.

However, recently the parties seem to have managed to find a compromise. The International Judo Federation (IJF) stood up for justice and announced the participation of our athletes in the upcoming Grand Slam tournament, which will be held in Mongolia on June 24-26.

Photo: © RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev

Representatives of Ukrainian sports, of course, did not like it very much. And they sent an open letter to the IJF:

– In case of admission of athletes from Russia and Belarus in a neutral status to participate in competitions under the auspices of the International Judo Federation, we decided to refuse the participation of Ukrainian national judo teams in all sports events of the International Judo Federation and to be suspended from participation in competitions in any status of national teams in judo of Russia and Belarus, – says in the message of the President of the Judo Federation of Ukraine.

The IJF reacted rather quickly, although the issue before the federation was serious: in fact, the official had to choose between Ukraine and Russia.

Usually our athletes in such cases need to prepare for the worst, but not this time. The leaders of the organization did not go along with the FDU. They did not remove the Russian and Belarusian teams:

— Judo is an art, a philosophy and a way of life… Sport is and will always be a kind of bridge between peoples. Young people, and especially athletes, should be role models for their own and for future generations… In judo, we will not encourage division and hatred. We must live together now and in the future. No negative force should divide a family like a judo family, and moreover, I believe that we should be an example for other communities as well, — reported in the text of a reply letter from IJF President Marius Wieser.

Marius Vizer / Photo: © David Finch / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

“We will not participate in the starts”

The response of the International Judo Federation certainly pleased the Russian athletes. They will compete in major competitions with the strongest athletes from around the world. In Ukraine, the IJF response was accepted without enthusiasm:

– Contrary to the recommendations of the IOC and the March decision of the IJF on the removal of Russian and Belarusian athletes from all starts, now they have outplayed everything. There is the position of the IJF, and I am grateful to them for the answer. And there is the position of the FDU, which we announced earlier – if Russian and Belarusian judoists are not suspended from competitions, we will not participate in starts under the auspices of the IJF. There will be no new announcements. We simply cannot do otherwise,” Mikhail Koshlyak, President of the Judo Federation of Ukraine, wrote on his social networks.

In other words, according to Koshlyak, the IJF simply forced Ukraine to withdraw. Having taken the position of peacefulness, the International Federation actually left the national team without competition. Moreover, not only in June – the country will miss all future tournaments where Russian athletes will appear.

Despite the failure in the blackmail attempt, the official has already announced that he will continue to stick to his line. He has already scheduled meetings with the head of the NOC of Ukraine, Serhiy Bubka, and the Minister of Youth and Sports, Vadym Gutzeit, to develop a new strategy for the removal of Russian athletes. True, there are more and more doubts about the effectiveness of such measures after the recent precedent.