More than 300 fencers have sent an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) asking it to uphold the suspension recommendations against the Russian and Belarusian athletes. The athletes were allowed to rejoin international tournaments in early March, which has prompted the fencers to express their concern.
The signatories of the letter, which include Olympic medalists such as American Lee Kiefer and Ukrainian Olga Kharlan, call on the IOC to ensure that the International Fencing Federation (FIE) follows its guidelines and upholds the suspension recommendations. The decision to reinstate the Russian and Belarusian athletes from April, subject to possible future IOC recommendations or decisions, was taken by the FIE on March 10.
The fencers’ stance is a response to the FIE’s decision, as athletes from the two countries have been excluded from international competitions for more than a year now, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The fencers denounce that the suspension should last and include qualifying competitions for the Olympic Games, as well as the Games themselves, “until Russia completely withdraws from Ukrainian territory.” According to them, the Russian aggression against Ukraine has resulted in the deaths of 232 athletes, the destruction of 343 sports infrastructures, the exile of 40,000 athletes, and the absence of sports infrastructures for 140,000 young athletes.
The athletes of “Global Athlete,” a grouping of athletes outside the classical sports institutions that were born at the time when the doping scandals affected Russia, ask that their opinion be heard and that the return of Russia and Belarus to the FIE competition be prevented. The IOC executive commission meets on Tuesday to clarify its position on this eventual return.