Free Athletes: Aliaksandr Apeikin Does Not Represent Us

A vote of no confidence has been passed.

Free athletes expressed a vote of no confidence in the executive director of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund, Aliaksandr Apeikin.

The statement was signed by the most authoritative Belarusian athletes who supported the protests in 2020:

“We, the undersigned representatives of free sports of Belarus, openly opposed the falsification of the 2020 presidential election, which led to the widespread abuse of Belarusians by the Lukashenko regime. We called for an end to the violence, the release of political prisoners, and fair elections.

Hundreds of us were arrested, prosecuted, tortured and humiliated, forced to leave the country, end our sports careers and lose our jobs. Our families and friends continue to face unlawful pressure from the regime.

Despite many of us having been exiled abroad, we have not backed down and continue to fight to this day.

However, we have to note that today we are being represented on the international stage by people who do not have or have lost such rights.

With this statement we put forward a vote of no confidence in the executive director of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation (BSSF) Aliaksandr Apeikin. We are convinced that an individual who, under the pretext of fighting for democratic values, interferes in important decision-making and speaks on behalf of people with whom he has no affiliation should be held accountable”.

Next, free athletes name a list of reasons that led to the decision to pass a vote of no confidence in Apeikin:

— Failure to fulfill obligations made to athletes.

— Spreading slander and provocation against our colleagues, as well as disseminating untrue statements and manipulations within communities.

— Failure to fulfill debt obligations and lack of transparent financial reporting in his role as Executive Director of the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation.

— Assigning as personal merit general achievements without considering the contribution of the team and without evaluating the efforts of participants who worked on the main projects, which led to the departure of specialists and the transformation of the once robust structure of the Belarus Sports Solidarity Fund into an inefficient organization relying solely on the achievements of former team members and the support of athletes.

— Making unilateral decisions to associate a sports organization with a military unit, resulting in the politically motivated persecution of numerous Belarusian athletes in the country.

— Populist interviews, statements, and social media posts that contain rhetoric supportive of Lukashenko's criminal regime, undermining the entire democratic athlete movement.

The free athletes have stated that neither Aliaksandr Apeikin nor the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Fund (BSSF) are authorized to represent the interests of the representatives of the Belarusian free sports community.

The vote of no confidence has been signed by the following people: Ivan Ganin, Multiple medalist of World Championships and Champion of Belarus, 2008 World Cup Winner (Kickboxing); Stsiapan Papou, World and European Champion (Sambo); Yelena Leuchanka, the Belarusian basketball star; Aliaksandra Herasimenia, Three-Time Olympian (Swimming); Aleh Dulub, the Belarusian football coach, and four dozen more athletes, who supported the protests in 2020.