While more and more sports are currently opening up to Russian and Belarusian participants, the Swedish Fencing Federation is issuing a statement to clarify its position.
The statement states, among other things, that they will stop Swedish fencers from participating in the same competitions as Russian and Belarusian fencers.
"The Swedish Fencing Federation has decided that fencers representing Sweden shall not participate in competitions at Nordic, European or international level that allow participation by the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, either as an individual or as a team."
However, the ban does not apply to competitions in Sweden for Russian or Belarusian citizens who are permanently resident in the Nordic countries and compete for their Nordic association.
The federation also writes that they are working with the other Nordic fencing federations with the international federation and the European fencing federation to ban both Russian and Belarusian fencers from participating in international competitions.
The Swedish federation has previously been very clear in its positions against Russia. Chairman of the Swedish Fencing Federation, Otto Drakenberg also received a lot of attention after being silenced when he wanted to discuss Saudi Arabia's hosting of the Cadet and Junior World Championships in 2024.
The text is updated.