Poland will not host the women’s foil World Cup, after the International Fencing Federation (FIE) decided to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutrals.
The decision to scrap the event, which was scheduled to take place on April 21-23 in the city of Poznan, was announced by the Polish Fencing Federation (PZS) on Wednesday. It said in a statement it had been “forced” to do so after the FIE refused to allow it to screen participants.
The selection procedure that the international sports body intended to have in place would have resulted in Ukrainian athletes not participating and posed “a risk that a large number of competitors with Russian and Belarusian passports [would] be admitted in a poorly controlled manner,” the Polish organization said.
“The Polish Fencing Association supports the Ukrainian Fencing Federation (FFU) in its efforts to remove from the competitions and the world fencing environment people who support the brutal war in Ukraine and endorse the regime of [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” it stated.
The Ukrainian government has objected to bringing athletes from Russia and Belarus back to international events, since the International Olympic Committee in January recommended their return under a neutral flag. The IOC’s previous blanket ban was deemed discriminatory.
The FIE announced its decision to readmit Russian and Belarusian fencers last month. This opened the door for them to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The FFU condemned the move.
Last week, the Ukrainian Sports Ministry issued a blanket ban on the country’s athletes participating in any Olympics qualification events, in which Russian or Belarusian citizens compete.
Sporting bodies in certain other Western countries have previously announced scrapping fencing events for similar reasons as in Poland. Germany’s DFB canceled a women’s foil World Cup event a week after the FIE’s change of rules. Its French counterpart (FFE) did the same with the men’s Challenge Monal epee tournament last Friday. Both parts of the fencing World Cup were scheduled for May.