The Ukrainian national team has withdrawn from the Tour de Ski multi-day race

Ukrainian skiers suddenly withdrew from the multiday Tour de Ski - not a single athlete went to the start of the fourth stage. This was reported by the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet on January 3.

It is reported that the race director was not warned about the incident - he said he knew nothing about the causes of the incident.

Later the situation was clarified by the coach of the Ukrainian national team Alexander Putsko.

"We refused to participate in the tour because we wanted to change the competition plan. It was the coach's choice. "Now we will focus on the World Junior Championships and the remaining World Cup weekend. <...> Communication with the local organizer could have been better. We apologize," he told the newspaper.

Ski multi-day Tour de Ski in the framework of the World Cup 2024/2025 takes place from December 28 to January 5 in Italy.

Earlier, on December 13, the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF) filed a complaint with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and the International Football Federation (FIFA) because of the demonstration during the broadcast of the draw for the 2026 World Cup (WC) qualifying tournament of a map where Crimea is not part of Ukraine.

Later, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanded that FIFA apologize for the incident.