Poland cancels World Cup fencing event over admission of Russians and Belarusians

Poland has cancelled a women’s foil World Cup event it was set to host later this month after the International Fencing Federation (FIE) rejected proposed restrictions on Russian and Belarusian competitors. The event is part of qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Due to the change of rules by the FIE [regarding] qualification of players and support staff holding Russian and Belarusian passports, the board of the Polish Fencing Federation (PZS) is forced to cancel this competition,” announced the PZS today.

It said that the FIE’s actions had “deprived the organisers of any influence on the process of accepting competitors and support staff”. It also alleged that the FIE’s proposed method for “checking the links of such persons with aggression in Ukraine…does not guarantee proper verification”.

“The PSZ supports the Ukrainian Fencing Federation 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 Vladimir Putin,” added the statement.

The FIE had proposed allowing Russian and Belarusians to compete under a neutral flag and as long as they are not linked to the aggression against Ukraine.

But the PSZ wanted Russians and Belarusians to also sign a declaration that “they do not support the war in Ukraine, which is a flagrant violation of international law and international treaties”, and “are not associated with the regime of Vladimir Putin, against whom the ICC has issued an arrest warrant”.

That led to an angry response from Russia’s fencing federation, whose president Ilgar Mammadov called it a “provocation” and violation of human rights.

The PSZ’s vice president, Adam Konopka, told news website Sport.pl that “the FIE did not respond to our correspondence for several weeks” and only finally sent a letter yesterday.

The FIE’s communication is “scandalous and outrageous because it makes it clear that it is the FIE who decides unconditionally which Russians are allowed to enter the competition”, added Konopka. “For us, this is arrogance and diktat, but we will not let ourselves be vassalised.”

Sport.pl reports that the World Cup event, which was due to take place in the city of Poznań from 21 to 23 April, is now likely to be moved to Tunis in Tunisia.

In votes held last month, the FIE’s members chose to allow Russians and Belarusians to return to the sport. That led Germany’s fencing federation to also cancel a women’s foil World Cup event it was supposed to host in March.

Last week, the Polish Olympic Committee announced that it would not allow Russians and Belarusians to compete at this summer’s European Games in Kraków despite the International Olympic Committee recommending they be allowed to participate under a neutral flag.

Main image credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 3.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.