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International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe claims the postponement of the decision on whether to readmit Russian and Belarusian athletes to competitions is due to the amount of disciplines the body governs.
FIG currently has control over artistic gymnastics for men and women, rhythmic, trampoline, acrobatic, aerobic, parkour, and gymnastics for all.
The organisation delayed the decision until July and its next Executive Committee meeting which left Russian and Belarusian gymnasts’ chances of qualifying from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in doubt as they are set to be excluded from key competitions.
“We have eight disciplines and everything has different governance and we must find a criteria of neutrality that fits for all eight,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Watanabe told insidethegames at the Urban Sports Summit in Montpellier.
“We need time, we cannot find neutrality criteria for the next day so that is why we need time.
“If today we decided something and then tomorrow a different decision is needed, this is not good for the athletes.
“That’s why in two months we will decide what are the perfect conditions of neutrality.”
Watanabe said the conditions would almost certainly follow the IOC recommendations laid out in March.
These suggested that International Federations allow individual Russian and Belarusian athletes back provided they do not support the war and are not affiliated with their country’s armed forces.
The FIG Executive Committee features multiple members from countries opposed to the two nations’ reinstatement including Finland’s Jani Tanskanen, Latvia’s Arturs Mickevics and Romania’s Maria Fumea.
European Gymnastics Union President and Azeri Sports Minister Farid Gayibov is also understood to have spoken out against their return.
It has been expected that Watanabe would welcome back previously banned athletes after telling Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy that he would “defend the right of Russian and Belarusian gymnasts who are not involved in the war to participate in competitions”.
A group of seven European countries, including Ukraine, boycotted last year’s FIG Congress, which was moved from Sandefjord in Norway to Istanbul in Turkey due to the original host’s refusal to welcome delegates from Russia and Belarus.
Watanabe defended the invitation of Russian and Belarusian officials, insisting “we have a duty to share our opinions” and arguing “unnecessary punishments create new hatred”.
FIG had initially banned Russia and Belarus outright in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine the previous month.
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Owen Lloyd is a reporter at insidethegames.biz, having joined the team in 2021. Lloyd has previously worked with Badminton England at the All England Open Badminton Championships, covered the 2019 General Election and hosted a radio show on local station Voice FM. He graduated from Solent University in 2021 with a 2:1 in sports journalism, where his final project examined diversity in rowing.
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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.
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