World basketball qualifiers: Italy refuses to play with Russia

This was announced by the president of Coni. Unlike football, Fiba has not yet taken a decision regarding the ouster of the Russians, a position that Petrucci defines as “pilatesca”

Take position. Making strong and uncomfortable choices to show the world clearly which side you are on. For this reason, Federbasket, with the full support of Coni, has decided that the Italian national team will not take the field against Russia in the qualifying match for the 2023 World Cup which should be played on 1 July in Italy. This is the first refusal to face Russia, and therefore in defense of Ukraine, of Italian sport.

Confirmation

The confirmation came from the president of Coni Giovanni Malagò on the sidelines of the Coni national council: “Italy has decided that it will not play, in this the Coni is 100% on the side of the Federation. And so will Iceland and the Netherlands, which are part of our same group. We are very sorry for the choice of Fiba, we do not understand it. So what about the Fifa that ousted teams from morning to night? The IOC was very clear, only basketball and biathlon did not follow the directions “.

the wrath of petrucci

In fact, Fiba has not yet excluded the Russian team from competitions, a circumstance that in recent days had made the president of Federbasket Gianni Petrucci thunder, who had defined “the desire to keep the evaluation still pending, Pilates. the tragedy in Ukraine is still ongoing and we hope it will end in the shortest possible time, but this will not cancel what has been happening for more than a month now. Russia has broken the Olympic truce and the IOC has recommended to all federations world championships not to invite Russian or Belarusian athletes to international competitions “. Other federations, starting with football, have long since assumed a defined position, while basketball remains on hold. Italy does not fit.

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