The Polish Fencing Federation (PZS) claimed that due to changes in the rules, it would be impossible to verify the participation of the fencers from Russia and Belarus.
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Following the International Fencing Federation (FIE) decision to allow Russian and Belarusian fencers to compete again as neutrals, Poland has canceled this month’s women’s foil World Cup in Poznan. The sport is in trouble as a result of the FIE’s action, and qualifying for Paris 2024 is uncertain. Following the FIE’s Extraordinary Congress ruling on March 10, the Poznan event was slated to be the first World Cup where Russians and Belarusians would be permitted to compete once more following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Polish Fencing Federation (PZS) claimed that due to changes in the rules, it would be impossible to verify the participation of the fencers from Russia and Belarus.
Three World Cup competitions, including those in Tauberbischofsheim, Germany, and Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France, have been canceled as a result of the FIE’s recent decision to permit Russian and Belarusian fencers to compete as neutrals. The qualification process for Paris 2024 included all three competitions. Other nations that have declared they will not organize competitions including fencers from Russia and Belarus include France, Sweden, and Denmark. Kamil Bortnichuk, Poland’s minister of sport, had earlier declared that any Russian or Belarusian athletes competing in sporting events there would need to sign a statement denouncing the conflict in Ukraine. This led to an appeal to the FIE by the Russian Fencing Federation, which described the move as “pure provocation.” Ilgar Mammadov, the head of the Russian body, said Poland had to pull out of the Women’s Foil World Cup as it did not meet FIE requirements.
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The Polish Fencing Federation backed the Ukrainian Fencing Federation’s attempts to remove persons who support Ukraine’s horrific war and Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship from the competition and the global fencing scene. In a statement, the PZS said: “Therefore, as the organizer of the World Cup in Poznań, it could not accept such a situation.” The FIE’s amendments, which went into effect on April 4, 2023, stripped the World Cup organizers – PZS and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan – of all authority over the process of accepting registered players and support staff. Additionally, the FIE’s way of examining the connections between these individuals and aggression in Ukraine differed from the PZS’s earlier proposal and was founded on vague premises, making it impossible to ensure that these individuals had been properly verified.
The qualification process for Paris 2024 is still unclear, and the IOC Executive Board has advised that certain Russian and Belarusian athletes be let to compete once more, provided that they are not publicly supporting the invasion of Ukraine or connected to the armed forces. More than 300 fencers signed an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach urging him to forbid Russians and Belarusians from participating in qualification competitions for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Bach, himself, is a fencer who earned Olympic team gold in Montreal in 1976. The Ukrainian government has declared that its athletes would not participate in any competitions where Russians will be present.
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