WCF extends suspension of curling players from Russia and Belarus from competition
The World Curling Federation (WCF) has extended the suspension of athletes from Russia and Belarus until the end of the season-2024/25. This was reported on January 13 on the WCF website.
"Following the results of the last meeting of the World Curling Council in December 2024, it was decided to extend the exclusion of Belarus and Russia from world curling competitions until the end of the season-2024/25," the federation said in a statement.
The associations were excluded from the events based on the rule that "the WCF board may remove a team or a member association from any WCF event if, in the opinion of the board, their presence at the event could be detrimental to the event or jeopardize the safety of the participants or the orderly conduct of the event."
Earlier, on November 18, 2024, the head of the Russian Ministry of Sport Mikhail Degtyarev noted that Russia and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have converged in their views on the participation of Russian athletes in competitions. He specified that the dialogue with representatives of the organization is conducted in a non-public format through various channels.
On October 30, 2024, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out that the current IOC president Thomas Bach politicized the Olympic movement, violating all international legal norms.
On the same day, Bach made a statement at the general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) that the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) "was inevitable" because the committee and related organizations, according to him, had engaged in activities on the territory of Ukraine allegedly in violation of the Olympic Charter.
Before that, on October 17, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it was necessary to avoid splitting the international sports family and purify sports from vulgar politicization. The head of state noted that sports are now trying to make a platform for geopolitical games and imposing a neoliberal agenda.
In February 2022, the IOC recommended sports federations not to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions. This happened after the announcement that Russia had launched a special military operation to protect the population of Donbas.
