Lithuania is the fifth country to join the boycott of the FIG Congress over the participation of delegates from Russia and Belarus. Previously, Norway, Estonia, Poland, and Ukraine announced they would boycott the Congress. Algimantas Gudiškis, the president of the Lithuanian Gymnastics Federation, said:
“I fully support the position of the Norwegian, Polish, Estonian gymnastics federations and the gymnastics communities of other countries regarding the participation of aggressor states in the international sports movement. I also support the position of European gymnastics, which has unanimously refused to communicate with the Russian and Belarusian gymnastics federations, while the brutal, genocidal Russian war is taking place in Ukraine and completely innocent Ukrainian citizens, including children, are being killed – the future of our sport.”
“Therefore, as the president of the Lithuanian Gymnastics Federation, I cannot participate in the FIG 84th Congress in Turkey 2022. I think that my position will be supported by other countries – while Russia continues the war, it is impossible to include Russian athletes and officials in international sports.”
So far, all the countries joining the boycott are those that have a border with Russia – the ones that were at multiple wars with their neighbor before or even were previously under Russia’s rule and can easily imagine themselves in Ukraine’s place. In the coming days, we will likely see more Russian neighbors join the boycott. However, it might not be enough if the FIG is firmly set on allowing Russia’s participation.
Both Valentina Rodionenko and Vassily Titov claimed they are not worried about the boycott announcements and still expect Russian delegates to attend the event. Titov is supposed to participate in the Congress with four other delegates from Russia.
