The Executive Board of the European Table Tennis Union (ETTU) has decided to ban representatives of Russia and Belarus from participation in European club competitions in the 2022/23 season.
“The decision was made in accordance with the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), as well as in accordance with previous decisions of the ETTU on this matter,” the statement said.
It is claimed that this decision is “necessary to protect the safety of all participants and ensure the integrity of European club competitions.” Perhaps, the word “integrity here has another “nobody-knows” meaning, as kicking out Russian athletes doesn’t look as the meaning vocabulary gives to this word:
“This was reinforced by a recent survey of all European clubs participating in the 2021-2022 Champions League and Europe Cup competitions, which found that a large majority of clubs would be unwilling to compete in Russia or Belarus and a large number would not even participate if clubs from these two countries are also participating in next season’s competitions,” the statement added.
Earlier, on the recommendation of the IOC, most international sports organizations did not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions under their auspices.
Ru-Main, 06.07.2022
Source: Interfax
