Aliaksandr Apeikin: We Offer Effective Sanctions Against Athletes Who Supported Lukashenka And War

We will compile a special list.

The Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation, together with Ukrainian athletes, visited the United States. Aliaksandr Apeikin, the Executive Director at the BSSF, told Charter97.org what topics Belarusian and Ukrainian athletes managed to discuss during the trip:

— The meetings were held at a high level and quite successfully. The main meeting took place at the U.S. State Department. There was a separate meeting with the head of the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, as well as with representatives of some offices involved in sports and human rights.

It was mainly about the imposition of effective sanctions in sports, as well as support for Belarusian and Ukrainian athletes who suffered from political repression and war, including by providing opportunities to study at American universities.

The United States is very well aware of the importance of sports as one of the leading public institutions, so our issue has received increased attention. By the way, the work of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund was highly appreciated. We have indeed achieved significant results in the field of human rights, as well as in the field of support for the Belarusian sports community.

Describing the political meeting, we met with the offices of three Democratic Senators, the offices of: U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Senator Edward Markey. Negotiations were also held with them on particular issues. We have made a number of proposals for effective sanctions against athletes who supported the dictatorial regime in Belarus and Russia's military aggression. We addressed the proposals to the offices of the senators.

— Representatives of the Ukrainian delegation also attended the meeting. What matters did they address?

— Olha Saladukha, an honored Ukrainian athlete, joined us. Olha advocated not only a joint sanctions position against Belarusians and Russians but also the need to support Ukrainian athletes who, due to the war, lost the opportunity to continue their sports careers.

The topic of support for children's sports in Ukraine and the development of inclusive sports was also discussed. That was about the support of those athletes who were forced to interrupt their careers due to the war and left Ukrainian regions affected by active hostilities. Olha heads a charitable foundation, its goal is to develop children's sports in Ukraine. In the conditions of war, it is extremely important to maintain children's sports.

— Do Ukrainians distinguish between the Lukashist sportsmen and the signatories of the letter for fair elections?

— Yes. Basically, we have done a fairly good job and informed the Ukrainian sports community about the situation in Belarusian sports. They know this situation quite well, so there is such a difference.

Moreover, we are working to create a special commission in Ukraine that will help develop certain criteria for the imposition of sanctions against Belarusians and Russians. We call these effective sanctions when athletes can be allowed to compete under certain conditions.

We will be engaged in more effective sanctions development work together, there will be specific targeted sanctions against those athletes who openly supported Lukashenka and Putin. We will also work to endorse athletes who have openly opposed the war in Ukraine and the dictatorship in Belarus.

— What practical steps is the foundation now taking to ensure that pro-government athletes are left without international competitions?

— These are targeted sanctions by the U.S. and the European Union. We will compile a special list. In general, all these lists already exist speaking about Belarusian athletes. Basically, these targeted sanctions will have the character of visa restrictions.