Belarusian Athletes Asked to Suspend the Country's Membership in the Ioc

This measure will stop the regime's discrimination against politically active athletes.

Famous Belarusian athletes wrote a letter to the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, as well as to the IOC Executive Council and the IOC Athletes' Commission. They asked to pay attention to the discrimination on political grounds of 22 Belarusian athletes amid protests. The letter was conveyed to RBC by the press secretary of the Free Association of Athletes of Belarus SOS BY Yauhen Miadzvedzeu.

"Those who disagree with the government's policies and the use of force have been subjected to various forms of psychological violence and discrimination by government agencies, including the [National Olympic Committee] NOC and the Belarusian Sports Ministry. We are talking about dismissals, suspension from competitions, a ban on participation in national teams' competitions," the document says.

The signatories asked the IOC for the following:

conduct a proper investigation of the facts of discrimination and violence against Belarusian athletes;

take the measures provided for by the Olympic Charter in relation to the NOC of Belarus. In particular, to suspend the membership of the national committee in the IOC until the situation normalizes;

help athletes who have suffered unlawful discrimination to participate in sporting events sponsored by the IOC.

The authors of the letter call the case with the arrest of the Belarusian national team's basketball player Alena Leuchanka as one of the most striking manifestations of discrimination. The sportswoman, detained at the end of September at the Minsk airport before flying out for planned treatment and rehabilitation, was given 15 days for participating in unauthorized protests.

Earlier, Leuchanka actively spoke out for holding a repeat presidential election in Belarus and against violence towards the protesters.

The appeal was signed, in particular, by the captain of the Belarusian women's basketball team, bronze medalist of the European Championship Katsiryna Snytsina, European champion in swimming Yauhen Tsurkin, three-time Olympic medalist in swimming, world champion Aliaksandra Herasimenia, world and European sambo champion Stsiapan Papou.