Ukraine demanded that rowers from Russia be excluded from qualifying for the Olympics

MOSCOW, May 5. National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine , the country's Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ukrainian Canoe Federation sent a joint letter to the leadership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) demanding that the crews of Russian and Belarusian rowers be suspended from participating in the qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, reported on website of the NOC of Ukraine.
Earlier, the ICF announced that nine Russian kayakers and canoers will compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament, which will be held in the Hungarian city of Szeged on May 8-9. The list of participants included Alexey Korovashkov, Mikhail Pavlov, Zakhar Petrov, Olesya Romasenko, Ivan Shtyl, Svetlana Chernigovskaya, Anastasia Dolgova, Vitaly Ershov, Maxim Spesivtsev.

According to the NOC of Ukraine, the admission of Russian and Belarusian rowers to the tournament is a violation of IOC recommendations. The organization demands that the ICF take an example from synchronized swimming, where Russian athletes cannot compete in duets and teams at international competitions.

«The signatories ask to take this information into account and take all possible measures within their competence to prevent the participation of teams of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, including the European Olympic qualifications and other qualifying tournaments for the Olympic Games,» — the message says.
In April 2023, the ICF announced the admission of Russians and Belarusians to competitions in a neutral status.