On the one hand, because it is counterproductive and not the least bit elegant, and on the other hand, because it totally goes against Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The European Fencing Federation has suspended the membership of the sports federations of Russia and Belarus in the organization, MTI reported following the insidethegames.biz portal.

According to the report, Saturday's decision was made by majority vote - secretly, with 23 yes and 10 no - at the EFC (European Fencing Confederation) congress in Krakow.

The question was put to a vote at the suggestion of Mikhail Ilyashev, the President of the Ukrainian Fencing Federation.

The EFC also decided not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under the organization's auspices, and representatives of the two countries cannot be members of the continental organization's executive committee or other bodies. At the same time, Russians and Belarusians can compete in adult continental competitions, as they are organized by the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

Article 21 - Prohibition of discrimination (1) All discrimination is prohibited, including in particular gender, race, color, ethnic or social origin, genetic trait, language, religion or belief, political or other opinion, belonging to a national minority, financial status, birth , discrimination based on disability, age or sexual orientation. (2) Within the scope of application of the Treaties and without prejudice to the special provisions contained therein, any discrimination on the basis of nationality is prohibited.

On June 17 last year, the EFC rejected the motion to suspend the membership of the two fencing associations. In November, the Italian Giorgio Scarso replaced the Russian Stanislav Pozdnyakov as the president of the confederation. The president of the four-time Olympic champion of the Russian Olympic Committee was fired from the head of the EFC after the invasion of Ukraine.

On March 28 this year, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) proposed that Russian and Belarusian athletes

to compete in international competitions exclusively in neutral colors, but only those who have not publicly spoken out in favor of Russia's war in Ukraine and are not connected to the armed forces or national security agencies.

The FIE followed the recommendations, so the Russian fencers representing the two Moscow clubs affiliated to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Interior, CSZKA and Dinamo, were not given neutral status.

Symbols on the eve of the redistribution of the world

Featured image: AFP