The IOC is referring to the Tennis Federation of Ukraine, defending the decision regarding the Russian Federation.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) once again discusses the decision to return athletes of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus to major sports, referring to the Tennis Federation of Ukraine.

IOC statement

The decision of the Ukrainian government to boycott the competitions raises serious questions about the autonomy of Ukrainian sport.

If implemented, such a decision will only harm the Ukrainian sports community and national sports federations, and will in no way affect the war that the world wants to stop and which the IOC strongly condemns. The IOC has always argued that governments should not decide which athletes can compete in which international competitions.

If such a decision is implemented, it will also contradict the position of some Ukrainian athletes and other members of the Ukrainian Olympic community.

Literally one of those days Ukrainian Tennis Federation “With this call, we express a common position regarding the possible decision of the NOC on a complete boycott of players of all international tournaments played by Russians or Belarus. Such a decision will lead to the destruction of Ukrainian tennis, because players from these countries take part in almost every competition, and this will be a sanction against the Ukrainians, not the Russians. If you let the Russians and Belarusians compete, you have to play with them and win, not run away from the war.”

The IOC has always followed the policy of protecting athletes and will in this case. Therefore, if this is implemented, athletes who want to compete and will lose the support of the National Sports Federations and the National Olympic Committees due to government intervention can count on the direct support of the Olympic Movement Solidarity Fund for the Olympic Community of Ukraine. IOC Athlete Support Program .