Ukraine to boycott World Judo Championship as Russian, Belarusian athletes allowed to compete

Ukraine’s national judo team has decided to boycott the 2023 World Judo Championship, scheduled for May 7-13 in Doha, Qatar.

The relevant statement was made by Vitalii Dubrova, the head coach of Ukraine’s national judo team, an Ukrinform correspondent reports, referring to Suspilne Sport.

The decision of Ukraine’s national judo team is related to the fact that Russian and Belarusian athletes have been allowed to compete as neutral. On the last day for submitting applications for the World Judo Championship, the International Judo Federation (IJF) announced that the representatives of Russia and Belarus would resume competition.

According to Dubrova, the International Judo Federation (IJF) has not even checked the athletes who applied for the World Judo Championship, and a number of CSKA members are among them.

As of March 28, 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes contracted to their military should not be allowed to take part in competitions.

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