Latvian Seimas banned national teams from playing with teams from the Russian Federation and Belarus. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called this a manifestation of hatred on ethnic grounds.
Politicians emphasize that this decision was made to express Latvia’s solidarity with Ukraine. Former Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov is waiting for a reaction from the International Olympic Committee, since such decisions are considered interference in the affairs of sports organizations and contradict the Olympic Charter.