Russian rowers will not compete at the World Youth Championships in Poznan, Poland, due to refusal to sign a political declaration, said the president of the Russian Rowing Federation (FGSR) Alexei Svirin.
"Unfortunately, the situation with the World Youth Championship has not changed in any way compared to May, when the European Championship was held in Poland. That's why we're not going to this tournament either. The condition for participation was the signing of all the same declarations, this was the requirement of the Polish Rowing Association," said the head of the Federation.
The World U23 Rowing Championships will be held from 23 to 27 July. Earlier, the head of the FSSR said earlier that the Poles insisted on signing declarations by all Russian rowers, where they had to indicate that they did not receive state funding, as well as sponsorship funds from companies or individuals associated with the Russian Federation.
Neutral athletes had to sign that they did not express and are not going to express SMO support for Ukraine, the state policy of Russia and Belarus and their leaders.
Meanwhile, the Olympic champion, State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova commented on the participation of Russian athletes (of course, in a neutral status, without national identification) at the World Aquatics Championships, which will be held in Singapore from July 11 to August 3.:
"Provocations against our athletes are quite possible at the World Aquatics Championships. Obviously, some countries will not shake hands with ours, take pictures together. It will be on their conscience. But I don't think Ukraine will have many allies who will support protests against Russian athletes. In terms of security, our guys will be fine, you shouldn't worry about it. The main thing is that our athletes perform well, and we will be happy for their success. World Aquatics is a normal organization that admits the strongest, and not selectively, like other federations."
In turn, Honored figure skating coach of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova urged not to condemn Russian athletes performing at international tournaments without a flag, anthem and coat of arms of the country.:
"In no case should we condemn our athletes who perform in a neutral status. The age of an athlete is fleeting, especially in figure skating. They put their lives, health and all their strength into it. For the sake of not performing, or what? We all know who our guys represent at the competitions. Is this a betrayal of the country?"