International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federations (IBSF) at the congress on Friday, it was decided to suspend Russian athletes from the competitions of these sports, reports IBSF.
–
–
Content will continue after the ad
Advertising
–
Other representatives of the Russian Bobsled Federation (BFR) have also been disqualified from the competition for an indefinite period.
In June, the IBSF Appeals Commission overturned the decision taken by the IBSF in early March to suspend Russia’s activities in the organization. Unlike other sports organizations, the IBSF announced that it would withdraw Russia’s membership just a week after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The IBSF’s decision had been taken until the next congress, which took place this week in Lausanne.
Belarus is not a member of the IBSF and its athletes do not participate in bobsled and skeleton competitions.
The decision will be valid until the Ukraine-Russia peace treaty or any other solutions to this conflict are adopted.
Jānis Kols, president of the Latvian Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, was pleased with what was achieved at the congress on Friday, which allegedly required a lot of work behind the scenes as well.
“It was tough, really tough, but it’s satisfying that it was achieved. Everything started not only on the day of the vote itself, but already in backroom conversations. We put forward the demand that there should be an open vote on this issue to see who is who. “Purely legally, in order for the bobsleigh skeleton management to be able to make major decisions during inter-congresses as well, the statutes had to be changed, which would give greater rights to the IBSF executive committee between congresses. It was the first vote, even before Russia’s exclusion, and it was necessary to get at least two-thirds of the votes,” Latvijas Bobsleja and the skeleton federation website quotes Cole.
“It was not easy, and surprisingly, along with Russia, the United States and Canada also voted against the changes in the statute. If it was clear about the Canadians, then the Americans’ position changed at the last moment, and they said the opposite in backstage conversations. Before that, there were also various speeches and presentations about the Russian aggression in Ukraine, but apart from Ukraine, only we and LBSF General Secretary Zinti Ekmani spoke publicly,” emphasized Kol. “In the end, we happily accepted the changes in the statutes and also the exclusion of Russia from the international bobsled and skeleton circuit (in this field, the Americans and Canadians were also involved, against only the Russians themselves). I was positively surprised by the support of Germany, their president is a former East German and he was well aware of the real situation and history. It is a great satisfaction that it has been accepted, although we have to expect that Russia can challenge such a decision, because the IBSF operates under the jurisdiction of Switzerland and everything must be considered on its merits if there is an appeal.”
–
