Poland to bar Russian athletes from attending European Games
The main arena of the European Games (Photo:twitter.com/eg2023pl)
Contrary to the recommendation made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Russian and Belarusian athletes will be prohibited from entering Poland, thereby preventing them from participating in the 2023 European Games in Krakow, representative of the event’s organizing committee, Marcin Nowak, said in a statement on March 29.
According to the official, competitors from Russia and Belarus simply won’t be allowed into Poland, even though the IOC earlier recommended to allow athletes from the two countries to participate in international sports events.
“There will be no athletes representing the Russian Federation and Belarus at the European Games in Krakow,” said Nowak.
“We will not allow this to happen, regardless of the diplomatic efforts that are currently taking place."
The European Games is a regional international sports competition among European athletes, essentially – continental Olympics.
The 2023 European Games will be held in Krakow, opening on June 21. Participants will compete for awards in 26 disciplines. In total, 7,000 athletes from 48 countries are expected to attend.
At the 2019 European Games, the Ukrainian team took third place overall, by winning 52 medals – 16 gold, 17 silver, and 19 bronze accolades.
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