Europe 1 with AFP 19:18 pm, April 05, 2023

Poland has decided to cancel a fencing event counting towards the qualifications for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This decision follows the reinstatement of Russian and Belarusian athletes by the International Federation (FIE). A decision criticized by a plurality of Western countries.

Poland, like Germany and France before it, announced Wednesday the cancellation of a stage of the Fencing World Cup, scheduled for April in Poznan, qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in reaction to the reinstatement of Russian athletes by the International Federation (FIE). "We cannot organize this event according to the conditions set by the FIE," which "imposed on us" to welcome Russian athletes, told AFP the vice-president of the Polish PFSz Federation, Adam Konopka.

"We received an arrogant letter" from the FIE telling us that "it is up to them to decide who should come and under what conditions and that we were obliged to organise everything, including entry visas" in Poland, Konopka said. "We are not going to let ourselves be vassalized," he insisted. On Sunday, Russia announced that it would not send its fencers to Poznan, Poland, this month (21-24 April) because of "unacceptable" conditions issued by Warsaw.

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Written document requested

Poland required Russian and Belarusian athletes to sign a written document certifying that they do not support the war against Ukraine and that they are not employed by the army or a security organ of these countries, and pledging to respect the established neutrality criteria. Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from all international competitions in the wake of the launch of the military offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.

At the beginning of March, however, the FIE announced the reinstatement of fencers from both countries, a first in international sport in more than a year, provoking the ire of Kiev and some of its allies. At the end of the month, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) itself paved the way for the partial reinstatement, under a neutral banner, of Russian and Belarusian athletes, again provoking critical reactions from countries supporting Ukraine.