There will be no Russian and Belarusian athletes at the next World Figure Skating Championships, in a fortnight, in Montpellier (Hérault).
The French Federation of Ice Sports and the organizing committee of the event, which will take place from March 21 to 27 at the Sud de France Arena, indicated on Tuesday that they supported “the position of the ISU [l’Union internationale de patinage] and the IOC [Comité international olympique] on the exclusion of Russians and Belarusians from sports competitions after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“It’s a different war”
Asked about France Blue Herault, Christian Assaf (PS), vice-president of the metropolis of Montpellier in charge of sports, welcomed such a decision.
And he goes further. The elected official indicates that “no Montpellier team will play against a Russian team, on French territory and in Russia” or elsewhere in the world. “Boycott, to isolate them and to put pressure, notes Christian Assaf. All means to bring Vladimir Putin to reason (…) are necessary. It is a war otherwise, but I hope it will be as effective as guns and missiles. »