(Reuters) – International federations should handle situations involving Ukrainian and neutral athletes with sensitivity, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said after a Ukrainian fencer was disqualified for refusing to shake hands with a Russian opponent.
Ukraine’s Olga Kharlan, a four-time Olympic medallist and world champion, won the individual sabre bout 15-7 and then refused to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova – competing as a neutral – at the World Championships in Milan on Thursday.
In fencing’s rules, shaking an opponent’s hand is mandatory and failure to do so results in a ‘black card’.
Ukrainian athletes in other sports – including tennis players Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk – have also refused to shake hands with Russian and Belarusian opponents following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow using Belarus as a staging ground for what it calls a “special military operation”.
The Ukrainian Fencing Federation (NFFU) has backed Kharlan.
Kharlan represented Ukraine in the competition after the country’s sports ministry relaxed its rules over national sports teams competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events with competitors from Russia and Belarus.
“The decision taken by the Ukraine sports ministry will allow Ukrainian athletes to participate in international competitions and will enable them to qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024,” the IOC told Reuters on Friday.
“We are glad that they will be given this opportunity, and at the same time, we are aware of the difficult inner conflicts they may have, given the aggression against their country.
“Therefore, we encourage International Federations to handle situations involving Ukrainian and Individual Neutral Athletes with the necessary degree of sensitivity.
“We continue to stand in full solidarity with the Ukrainian athletes and the Olympic community of Ukraine.”
The NFFU has appealed Kharlan’s disqualification.
“(The NFFU) filed a protest to the Bureau of the FIE against the decision of the Directoire Technique of the competition regarding the disqualification,” the NFFU said in a statement backing Kharlan on Friday.
“The issue of “lack of respect”, which became the basis for the complaint, lies exclusively in the competence of the Referee… who did not record any violations in the actions of the Ukrainian fencer at the time the bout had ended.
“More importantly, this matter does not fall within the jurisdiction of Directoire Technique under FIE regulations.”
(Reporting by Tommy Lund and Aadi Nair, writing by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
