IWWF - Participation of Athletes from Russia and Belarus

[Horton]

On 28th March 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Executive Board recommended International Sports Federations implement their own policies regarding the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus as neutral athletes under specific conditions.

After extensive consultation with athletes and stakeholders on this issue, the IWWF Bureau has decided to continue to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes from all IWWF events.

The IWWF will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and review its position should circumstances change.

Source https://iwwf.sport/iwwfs-position-on-the-participation-of-athletes-from-russia-and-belarus/

[Horton]

I do not know how I feel about this. However your feel about the war in Ukraine what does Igor Morozov's nation of origin matter to a water ski event?

[mike_mapple]

I agree with you, its not like water skiing is this huge sport, I could see this being more of an issue for hockey/basketball ect. Stuff that is really on a global level. *that more than a few thousand people watch*

 

I have not kept up with this as I should have but i know some of the skiers from Belarus are now skiing as USA, which is great that they are still able to ski, but they should not have had to do that IMO, just like Igor should be able to ski any event.

[MISkier]

It may be that some are thinking about this as competitors and enthusiasts with a passion for the sport.

I suspect that IWWF is thinking about it from an optics perspective among those who don’t know or care about water skiing, but might be riled up if participation of these athletes was profiled in a news story.  They may wish to avoid controversy on a geopolitical stage.

[Cam]

I can't see the logic here banning a limited amount of athletes participating in a niche sport while I am sitting here watching two Moscow born Russian tennis players live on Amazon Prime 🤬