"It looks like Russophobia": the Russian biathlon team was banned from publishing their symbols on social networks during the World Cup

Russian biathletes at the World Championships in Pokljuka will face another ban.

They will not be able to post on their social networks images of the country's state symbols during the competition.

This was reported to RIA Novosti by the press service of the International Biathlon Union (IBU).

“Russian athletes do not have to give up their nationality, but they will not be able to post anything with national symbols on social networks during the World Cup.

Social media is a complex area, but biathletes will not be able to publish national flags and symbols during the World Championships, ”the IBU said.

According to TASS, the union "strongly recommended" to refrain from displaying the flag and emblem on its personal pages, not only to athletes, but also to coaches and all technical personnel of the Russian national team.

Team members may receive a warning for violating the new requirement.

This ban is connected with the sanctions that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) introduced against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

For two years, the Russian national teams in various sports are prohibited from representing their country at the Olympic Games and World Championships and from performing with their national symbols for two years.

Formally, the national team of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) will compete in Pokljuka, which in the official protocols will be denoted by the English abbreviation RBU without full decoding.

The monochromatic RBU logo will be used as the flag, and the IBU anthem will be played at the awards ceremony if the athletes win.

The international union also said that the ban on state symbols will not apply to journalists.

They have not received such requests from WADA.

However, the IBU stressed that it will be prohibited to transfer the symbols to athletes during the races.

Russian athletes will not be able to wave the flag at the finish line in case of victory, as is traditionally the case in biathlon.

During the competition, Russian athletes will also have to change their usual form to another one that meets the new requirements.

It contains the colors of the Russian flag, but there is much less red and white than blue.

The biathletes will have a monochrome SBR logo on their shoulders.

For men and women, the shape is now the same - earlier in the girls' shoulders, pink prevailed.

Contrary to media concerns, the biathletes of the Russian national team will start at the World Championships in Pokljuka in new overalls.

In accordance with the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the new equipment lacks the state symbols of Russia, and the SBR logo is made in monochrome.

pic.twitter.com/oPc9k0R4Wj

- Biathlon of Russia (@russianbiathlon) February 9, 2021

Renowned biathlon commentator Dmitry Guberniev urged athletes to carefully comply with the IBU requirements so that they do not have new troubles.

He noted that now the Russian national team has no other options but to obey the new ban.

“Now we can wave our fists, make a demonstration - will that change something?

Not.

In order not to get into such a situation in the future, you need not to eat up doping, strengthen your position in the international arena, restore the status of the RBU, and build up your economic muscles.

So that you can handle the situation.

We have no choice now.

If we want to find adventure, then let's disobey the IBU, ”Guberniev told Sport24.

State Duma deputy and former boxer Nikolai Valuev is confident that the IBU ban is illegal.

In his opinion, this requirement has no basis.

“I don’t understand at all why this should not be done at the Biathlon World Championships.

Such prohibitions are taken from the ceiling.

After all, this is not in the CAS solution, so I do not know how to comment on such an absurdity.

I think this decision must be appealed against, "Valuev said.

Olympic champion in speed skating Svetlana Zhurova also expressed bewilderment about the situation.

“This is absurd!

Two different forms at the European and World Championships, and they have already reached the posts ... It's surprising in general that they themselves pointed to this and paid attention ... Now they hint to the fans: pay attention, whether the athlete will make the flag or not ... Very it all looks strange and looks like Russophobia, ”Zhurova expressed her concerns.

It should be noted that prior to the Biathlon World Championships, other international sports federations did not openly report that athletes were prohibited from posting images of the flag and anthem on their social networks.

By now, the world championships in men's handball and luge have already been held, where there were no requirements similar to those presented by the IBU.