Eight members of the Russian delegation have been banned from participating in the World Judo Championships, taking place May 7-14, following background checks.
This was announced by the world association IJF on Tuesday. The vote was taken by the federation’s Executive Committee, which commissioned investigations into the employment status of the proposed athletes and other delegates.
The check also included reviewing social media interactions regarding pro-Russian war propaganda. On Sunday, the IJF gave the judoka from Russia and Belarus the green light to start in the title fights beginning on Sunday – on condition that they compete as neutral individual athletes.
Ukraine withdrew their team from the World Judo Championships in protest
“Only athletes employed at the Federal Training Center of Russian Teams and athletes for whom no information was found indicating support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine or their views were allowed to participate in the 2023 World Judo Championships and admitted to IJF competitions,” the association said.
Ukraine withdrew its entire team from the competitions on Monday.
The reason given by the Ukrainian Judo Federation in a statement is that “the majority of the (Russian; ed.) team consists of athletes who are actively serving in the armed forces of the Russian Federation and are part of the army that defeated Ukraine on February 24 attacked in 2022”.