Ukraine withdraws from judo worlds over Russian soldier presence

KYIV – The International Judo Federation (IJF) on Tuesday barred eight members of Russia’s World Championships squad following Ukraine’s boycott over the presence of Russian athletes it argued are active soldiers.

The IJF gave judokas from Russia and Belarus the green light to compete at the May 7-14 championships in Doha with the proviso that they do so as individual neutral athletes.

But the Ukrainian judo federation said in a statement that “the majority of the (Russian) team are athletes who are active servicemen of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, part of the army that attacked Ukraine on Feb 24, 2022”.

A Russian army, the federation added, that “is still waging a brutal full-scale war on our territory, shelling Ukrainian cities, civilian homes every day, killing civilians and children”.

“We do not see here neutrality, equal conditions and a ‘bridge to peace’ as stated in the IJF Resolution on the participation of Russian and Belarusian teams in the World Championships in Doha,” it said.

“Moreover, we see here a decision that contradicts the latest recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where the status of neutral athletes can only be granted to those athletes who are not military personnel.”

Ukrainian judoka Daria Bilodid, 2018 and 2019 world women’s 48kg champion and Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo, had called the IJF’s decision to allow Russian competitors in Doha “unacceptable”.

“All those people who will perform at the World Cup are military personnel. That’s nonsense, isn’t it?” she said.

“I think it is unacceptable to allow military personnel of a terrorist country, who every day kill Ukrainians, to participate in international competitions.”

IOC president Thomas Bach said in April that

Russians and Belarusians banned from international competition would include “athletes who actively support the war”

as well as “athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies”.

Among the Russian judokas listed for the world championships, Inal Tasoev won a title at the World Military Championships in Paris in 2021. At that same event, Mikhail Igolnikov, who is also competing in Doha, finished third in the under-90kg category.

Following Ukraine’s withdrawal and its federation’s statement, the IJF said that it had “commissioned independent background checks on the athletes and delegates to ensure both their place of employment and any social media interactions regarding pro-war propaganda”. As a result of those checks, “eight members of the delegation were rejected”.

The IJF added that it will “continue to monitor the situation and conduct further investigations to ensure that all athletes are participating ethically and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the sport and the judo values”. AFP