In the composition of the committees published by the IBSF for 2022-2026, Latvian representatives were elected to six committees, but two committee members refused to be on the same committee with Russian representatives.
In a letter to IBSF President Ivo Feriani, Latvian representatives express their indignation at the decision of the IBSF Executive Committee to allow Russian representatives to take seats in IBSF committees, taking into account “the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of an independent country in Ukraine by Russian forces”.
“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has responded to this global condemnation, and it is inexplicable that the IBSF is not doing the same,” wrote Cottans and five of the nine Parasport Committee representatives from Norway, Canada, Great Britain, the United States and Poland in a letter addressed to President Feriani. revokes his membership in the committee because it includes Sergey Parkhomenko from Russia.
“Those who claim that the actions of the Russian government should not be tied to individual representatives of Olympic sports organizations are completely naive. There is no difference between international sports and the propaganda machine of the Russian government. Even the representative of Russia assigned to the Parasports Committee is a current member of the Russian army. This is the situation we have completely unacceptable, and we have collectively and individually agreed to withdraw from the Parasport Committee and will not cooperate with Russian representatives as long as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues,” the letter states.
LBSF has also sent a letter to IBSF President Feriani, emphasizing its position not to work in any of the IBSF consultative committees in which Russian representatives are involved, as long as the aggression in Ukraine continues.
“The entire civilized world condemns the atrocities committed by the aggressor in Ukraine and actively engages in the fight against this degradation of human values. Therefore, I believe that it is impossible to be in the same committee with the captain of the Russian army of the aggressor state. I hereby withdraw from the membership of the IBSF Calendar Committee,” says Ekmanis in the letter. in response to Parhomenko’s inclusion in the Calendar Committee as well.
Meanwhile, Sandis Prūsis, coach of the Latvian bobsleigh team and member of the LBSF board, will continue to be in the Sports Committee in this Olympic cycle as well.
“We are like the first instance that examines the proposals of each country’s federation, mostly about the rules. Then we judge, argue, if necessary, correct or improve something, and then pass these proposals on to the Executive Committee, which approves or rejects them,” Prussia reveals the tasks of the sports committee.
He also does not hide that in the previous two years due to the pandemic, the committee’s meetings were held remotely, which was more reminiscent of a presentation format, missing face-to-face discussions and behind-the-scenes discussions, which “are also not unimportant”.
On the other hand, Jānis Skrastiņš, coach and author of the BTC bobsled sled, was elected to the Materials Committee, who is no stranger to the work of this committee, as he was a member of the committee when he worked for the US national team.
“The work in the material committee does not give any special advantage to one country. In May, the previous committee adopted rule changes that will force the Germans to redo their bobsleds. The chairman of the committee is the German Christoph Langen, who coached Swiss athletes in previous seasons, and he is also interested in making such decisions so that one the country would not have dominance in this sport. The rules are already the same for all teams, only there should be more precise points to prevent the interpretation of different types of rules,” Skrastiņš explains.
Mārtiņš Mihņėvičs, who will represent Canada’s interests, as well as Mārtiņš Ĺirķis, who was elected as the representative of IBSF, were also elected to the materials committee.
On the other hand, Gatis Gūts, former pilot of the Latvian bobsleigh national team and current competition judge, will work in the Tracks Committee, while Filips Bernadskis was elected to the Medical Committee.
Committees are elected for four years – for one Olympic cycle. During this time, the task of the committees is to ensure the review of various proposals and amendments to the rules in order to promote equal competition among all participants.
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