Exclusion of Russian and Belarusian federations and officials.
The RSV Lahn-Dill fully supports the demand of Athletes Germany e.V., who were the first to clearly position themselves against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The Wetzlarer Rollis thus support the demand for the immediate exclusion of all Russian and Belarusian federations and officials from international competitive sports.
“It would be nice if it were like that, but sport is unfortunately not apolitical, even if IOC President Thomas Bach wanted us to believe this for a long time. We can’t hide behind such a fairy tale and pretend that it’s none of sport’s business, while people are dying elsewhere,” says RSV managing director Andreas Joneck: “Sport also has a clear social responsibility here.”
Therefore, the RSV Lahn-Dill joins the demand of the Athletes Germany Association, which had already demanded on Saturday, among other things, the complete exclusion of Russian and Belarusian officials and federations, including the respective Paralympic and Olympic committees, the severance of all financial relations with Russian donors and the cancellation of international sports competitions in Russia and Belarus.
RSV Lahn-Dill encourages its own national and international federations to also take a clear and consistent position, as DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher has already done, and many other sports have done likewise.
For example, the international volleyball and ice hockey federations have already withdrawn two international title bids from Russia, the basketball EuroLeague has excluded Russian teams from competition, and the national soccer teams of Poland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland have decided not to compete against the Russian selection until further notice. In addition, the International Taekwando Federation and the IOC have withdrawn Russian President Putin’s honorary belt and Olympic medal.