Poland, like Germany and France before it, announced on Wednesday that it had canceled a World Cup stage, scheduled for April in Poznan and qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, in reaction to the reinstatement of Russian athletes by the International Federation (FIE).
“We cannot organize this event according to the conditions set by the FIE”, which “imposed on us” to welcome the Russian athletes, indicated to AFP the vice-president of the Polish Federation PFSz, Adam Konopka.
“We received an arrogant letter” from the FIE to tell us that “it is up to them to decide who should come and under what conditions and that we were required to organize everything, including entry visas in Poland, Mr. Konopka explained. “We are not going to let ourselves be vassalized,” he insisted.
On March 10, the International Fencing Federation decided to reinstate Russian and Belarusian fencers subject to a decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which recommended last Tuesday to re-authorize the participation of Russian athletes and Belarusians at international competitions.
In response, a first stage in Germany then another in France, in Saint-Maur, were canceled. “We preferred to take this decision which seems to us to be the wisest, explained to us on Friday, after having made this decision, the president of the French Federation Bruno Gares. At present, we are not able to position ourselves clearly. There are still too many uncertainties for the hotel, the meals, the referees etc… We have no guarantee for a serene and lasting organization. For the moment, we have just had a simple press release from the IOC, which is not clear enough, especially in terms of the neutrality of the athletes. Under these conditions, it was better to give the FIE time to find another site. »
